Sierra Nevada Alliance

Climate Resiliency Program For the second consecutive year, the Sierra Nevada Alliance hosted two CivicSpark AmeriCorps Climate Fellows, Meredith Anderson and Sam Ruderman. The pair successfully completed their second terms and continued to push climate initiatives forward in the Lake Tahoe and Truckee areas, while expanding the technical capacity of the Alliance to model this work across Sierra Nevada communities. Their work focused primarily on projects for the City of South Lake Tahoe, South Tahoe Public Utility District, and Tahoe Truckee Unified School District. In 2017, the City of South Lake Tahoe became the first jurisdiction in the Sierra Nevada to pass a 100% Renewable Resolution, paving the way for other jurisdictions to follow. The Resolution committed the City to a number of renewable energy and emissions reduction goals, which laid the groundwork for the projects that Meredith and Sam worked on. After completing community-wide and government operations greenhouse gas emissions inventories for 2015 and 2018, Meredith and Sam began the development process for the City’s first Climate Action Plan. The Fellows also continued to facilitate the SEED (Solar Energy and Economic Development) Fund project, a Sierra Nevada regional collaborative solar procurement program designed for public agencies. The project moved forward with a release of the Request for Proposals in May 2020, and proposals were evaluated thereafter. In addition to their work with the City, Meredith and Sam were able to provide technical assistance to the South Tahoe Public Utility District through the completion of greenhouse gas emissions inventories of District operations for the years 2015-2018, and performed energy analyses comparing the performance of District water pumps to inform a data tracking system moving forward. Expanding the Climate Resiliency Program’s reach to the north shore of Lake Tahoe, the Fellows also worked with the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District to revise their Energy Conservation Guidelines to include current best practices regarding energy and water conservation. The Alliance is thrilled to continue participating as a host site for the CivicSpark program, and is looking forward to the new Climate Fellow, Jackson Realo, beginning his service term in September 2020. He will continue working with the City of South Lake Tahoe on renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, in addition to beginning the implementation process of the newly adopted Climate Action Plan. Sam Ruderman Meredith Anderson 15