Jerry Brown (D)
STOCKTON, Calif. (Legal Newsline)--After losing a lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Jerry Brown, the city of Stockton will try to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
They City Council adopted the plan Tuesday. It comes as an interim measure until a comprehensive plan for reducing climate-altering greenhouse gasses is adopted next year.
In its settlement with the Democratic attorney general, the Central Valley city agreed to reduce emissions.
Last September, the City Council adopted a plan aimed at curbing urban sprawl, largely from people fleeing the more expensive San Francisco area, which is 90 miles from Stockton.
The General Plan requires that 4,400 homes be built downtown, with the goal of approving construction on 3,000 of those homes by 2020.
Brown said at the time that the new plan will mitigate the potential loss of 1 million acres of farmland, improve rapidly deteriorating air quality that has already made the area among the smoggiest in the nation and decrease dependence on foreign oil.
Brown criticized the initial plan for allowing sprawl toward the city limits and harming the environment.
He negotiated a new plan with city officials that included the consideration of green building standards and the reduction of the impact of development on the environment among other changes.