Host: County of Sacramento
Region: Greater Sacramento
Openings: 1
Project Focus: Climate Adaptation, Climate Mitigation, Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy
Skills Needed: Research, Data Collection, Detail-Oriented

Service Needs & Plans

Sacramento County’s last greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory was conducted for 2015. Since that time, the County has progressed on the development of a community-wide climate action plan (CAP).  A revised Final Draft is targeted for release in early 2022 and final approval is estimated to occur by mid-2022. Consistent, transparent and timely updates to the County’s GHG inventory are required by the CAP as well as necessary to support work related to the County’s declared climate emergency and carbon neutrality goal of year 2030. 

In support of the County’s Climate Emergency declaration, the County Executive has created a new Sustainability Manager position directly reporting to the Office of the County Executive. This position was filled October 24, 2021. The overarching goals of this project will be to provide CivicSpark support to the Sustainability Manager in implementation of the County’s Climate Action Plan and in response to the Climate Emergency. The primary goal of this Fellowship is to prepare an updated greenhouse gas inventory and repeatable methodology for unincorporated Sacramento County. A secondary goal would be to enhance our work in public outreach and education in the building electrification space with a focus on assuring an equitable and just transition.

Project Description

The Fellow would serve under the direct supervision of the Sustainability Manager in the Sacramento County Executive’s Office. The goal of the project is to create an updated GHG inventory for unincorporated Sacramento County building off the County’s existing year 2015 inventory. The County is securing an ICLEI membership to provide additional technical support and intends to utilize the ICLEI protocols as was done for the 2015 inventory.  This includes recording the methodologies and assumptions utilized so that routine updates may be repeatable in the future to provide the best “apples to apples” comparisons. Under the direct supervision of the Sustainability Manager, the Fellow would be responsible for data collection, data validation, GHG calculations and reporting. 

Secondarily, the Fellow may be utilized to work in public outreach and education in the building electrification space.  As the County moves to implement an all-electric reach code that will come online with the new Energy Code on January 1, 2023, education and outreach to Sacramento County’s Environmental Justice communities and minority owned businesses will be necessary. The Fellow would assist the Sustainability Manager in conducting culturally appropriate outreach and education campaigns in furtherance of a just and equitable transition to all-electric buildings in unincorporated Sacramento County.

The GHG inventory is a primary metric in determining progress towards meeting Sacramento County’s GHG goals and providing the data necessary to adjust implementation and resiliency measures to ensure targets are met. Because the effects of Climate Change disproportionately impact communities of color, the elderly, the disabled and other disenfranchised groups, carrying out effective implementation of the CAP will help reduce the racial and ethnic disparities – especially with regard to the social determinants of health which are highly influenced by climate change. Similar benefits are realized in the building electrification space when we assure these same communities are not left holding the bag on an aged gas system and the associated indoor air quality and external environmental impacts. 

Desired Skills

The ideal Fellow will have:

• Mathematics and modeling skills using Microsoft Excel.
• Critical thinking skills to able to tease out details and limitations when data gathering.
• Climate change and energy consumption experience.
• Good organizational, writing and data management skills.
• GHG inventorying experience desired but not required.

Organization & Community Highlights

The Sacramento County workplace culture is improving under the leadership of a new County Executive and new priorities from the Board of Supervisors. The County’s leaders are currently engaged in cultural change training and the County Executive’s Office is scoping a contract for cultural awareness and diversity training. This comes on the heels of Sacramento County’s successful adoption of the Environmental Justice Element and the successful establishment of a new Public Safety and Justice program. Within the Planning and Environmental Review Division, an employee-led Diversity, Equity and Inclusion group has been formed to assist with implementation of the Environmental Justice Element and with advancing cultural change and racial equity.

Placement in this Fellowship will provide the candidate exposure to the highest levels of governance in the County. It will provide an opportunity to observe and interact with the County’s top leaders in a highly professional and supportive environment while working on one of the most pressing and important topics of today- – Climate Change. Located in Downtown Sacramento, the County Executive’s Office provides ready access to the State Capitol, the American River Parkway and the Sacramento Kings Arena.

Remote or On-Site Placement

The Fellow must be able to serve on-site at least part time on a weekly basis. Open to partial remote service and COVID flexibility.