SD County Forced to Address Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published August 22, 2007 at 12:01 PM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

San Diego County may have to include ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in future planning. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce says that's because California's attorney general has ruled that global warming

San Diego County may have to include ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in future planning. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce says that's because California's attorney general has ruled that global warming is covered under the state's environmental quality act.

Jerry Brown sued San Bernardino County for not doing enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in its long-term growth plan. A settlement requires the county to make several improvements to save energy and reduce emissions. Brown also sent a letter to San Diego and other counties advising them to reduce greenhouse gases. Jason Giffen is a planning manager with the San Diego County Department of Planning and Land Use.

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Giffen: The county is taking preliminary steps to evaluate climate change and climate change related effects for our large development projects.

He says reducing greenhouse gas emissions will also be included in the update of the county's comprehensive general plan. Giffen says specifics haven't been decided. Atty. Gen. Brown says he'll encourage San Diego and other counties to adopt an agreement like the one San Bernardino County signed.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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