Bay Area air-quality agency tackles climate change

Pamela DeMartini and Ed Cohen notice gray hazy skies at Walter Haas park on Wednesday, April 19, 2017, in San Francisco, Calif. Pamela DeMartini and Ed Cohen notice gray hazy skies at Walter Haas park on Wednesday, April 19, 2017, in San Francisco, Calif. Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Bay Area air-quality agency tackles climate change 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

The Bay Area’s little-known pollution control district jumped into the fight against climate change Wednesday with a first-of-its-kind regional plan that promises big changes in residents’ daily lives.

With calls for charging tolls to drive on freeways, doing away with gas heat and even urging meat-free meals, the agency is reaching beyond its usual targets of oil refineries and diesel trucks to push for cuts in greenhouse gases on a much broader scale.

“When thinking about the scale of climate change, we realized this had to be an all-in approach, everything in on the table,” said Abby Young, climate protection manager for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

For its 62-year history, the air district’s main job has been policing the nine-county Bay Area for dirty skies, declaring “Spare the Air” days when ozone and particulate matter levels reached unhealthy levels. Bay Area residents were affected most directly when the agency banned fireplace blazes on pollution-clogged winter nights and won the power to levy fines against violators.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle Vehicles seen on highway 101 with lightest traffic during early...

The agency’s new “Spare the Air, Cool the Climate” strategy makes global warming an equal priority, by targeting heat-trapping emissions.

The plan, approved Wednesday by a unanimous vote of the agency’s governing board at a meeting in San Francisco, lays out 85 measures that seek to reduce pollutants from industry, transportation, agriculture, homes and businesses.

No regulations take effect immediately, only a commitment to move forward. Some can be implemented by the district directly, but many will require joint action with other agencies. The district committed $4.5 million to initiate such partnerships.

“Reducing air pollution and greenhouse gases is everyone’s responsibility,” said Jack Broadbent, the district’s executive officer. “How we live and travel, what we buy, how we heat our homes, and what we consume all impact air quality, our health and produce greenhouse gases that impact our planet and ultimately, our quality of life.”

Under the plan, the agency will use its unilateral authority to tighten emission rules for oil refineries in the East Bay. Alongside cars and trucks, industry is the region’s top source of pollution.

Landfills, dairies and water treatment plants are also targeted for new restrictions.

To address transportation, the district will work alongside cities and transit agencies to encourage greener travel —making roads friendlier for electric cars with more charging stations and encouraging regional ride-shares and carpools.

The agency will also look to extend its “Spare the Air” day messaging to encourage slower driving, in hopes of reducing vehicle emissions on smoggy days. It will also seek to discourage overall car use by advocating for freeway tolls during high-traffic times, reductions in on-street parking and a higher gasoline tax.

The plan also calls on the district to explore new rules, and potential prohibitions, on fossil-fuel based heating and water-heating systems in homes and businesses. Agency funds could be used to create rebates for swapping out old, polluting appliances. Residential solar installations would also be encouraged through rebates.

Finally, the district is eyeing a campaign to promote eating less meat, as meat production is tough on the planet in a number of ways.

“That doesn’t mean everyone has to become vegan,” Young said. “We just have to do everything we can, and probably changing our diets is part of that.”

The plan comes as California leaders pledge aggressive action on climate change, a resolve that has been strengthened with the Trump administration’s efforts to rewrite federal environmental policy in hopes of encouraging economic growth. Bay Area air quality officials hope to set an example of what can be done regionally to take up the battle.

Several cities and counties have introduced programs to cut greenhouse gases, including San Francisco, but few have the regulatory power and reach of the state-chartered air district.

“If not here, where is there another location better suited to take on this leadership role?” Young said.

The district’s goal is to reduce emission of ozone-causing pollutants in the Bay Area by at least 21 tons per day and particulate matter, or soot, by 3 tons per day. It envisions reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 4.4 million metric tons by 2030 — the equivalent of removing more than 900,000 fossil-fuel-burning vehicles from the road each year.

Officials with the air-quality district say such reductions would save residents and local governments more than $1 billion a year, much of it in reduced health care costs.

Hundreds of people wrote to the air-quality district in advance of Wednesday’s meeting to support the plan. Not everyone was on board, however: Some critics asked what good a local program would do if other states and nations don’t take similar actions to cut heat-trapping gases.

“If the emissions are reduced here but not elsewhere, climate change is still here,” said Steven Young, a Chevron employee who spoke at the district’s meeting. “And it just gets worse.”

Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander

Acting locally

Among the steps approved by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District on Wednesday to try to fight climate change:

Require greater monitoring for methane leaks at petroleum refineries.

Reduce flaring at refineries to limit gas emissions.

Strengthen emission controls and leak standards at landfills.

Encourage airports to use cleaner-burning jet fuel.

Encourage the replacement of heavy-duty diesel engines in trucks.

Explore vehicle tolls in high-congestion areas to discourage driving.

Encourage the removal of off-street parking in transit-oriented areas.

Support an increase in the gasoline tax.

Provide consumer rebates for purchases of gasoline-free cars.

Discourage installation of water-heating systems and appliances powered by fossil fuels.

Ban all wood-burning fires on “Spare the Air” days, meaning eliminating exemptions.

Consider expanding “Spare the Air” messaging to include asking drivers to obey speed limits.

Construct new bicycle and pedestrian paths.

Start a public outreach campaign to promote climate-friendly diets.