Greenbelt Alliance

Working in the climate and environmental agendas is a daily commitment to renew hope and act for change, even when the ground keeps shifting beneath us. As we witness the dismantling of regulations that are meant to protect people and ecosystems from the growing threats of the climate crisis, we are also seeing daily actions by the federal government that are undermining our democratic institutions and constitutional protections. In this atmosphere, our mission to prepare communities to become resilient to climate-related threats is more needed than ever.

The latest blow came when President Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) repealed the scientific finding that greenhouse gas emissions can endanger “public health and welfare.” This 2009 federal rule is the legal foundation for virtually all major climate regulations. Despite the overwhelming global scientific consensus that greenhouse gas emissions are driving climate change, the current administration is sending a clear message that it is stepping away from federal climate protections.

However, no amount of denial will prevent worsening wildfires, flooding communities, sweltering heat, and profound social and ecological disruption. In California and across the US, we are experiencing more devastating disasters every year, with mounting costs and lasting trauma for our communities and ecosystems. The cost of inaction is much higher than acting decisively and urgently now.

While this announcement may not be entirely surprising, it is deeply alarming and will have profound consequences for our lives. As the federal government continues to pursue the path of denial, state, regional, and local entities—all of us—must step up in our commitment to climate action and ensure our democratic frameworks and processes can withstand these attacks. 

Moments like this can spark outrage, but they must also accelerate our willingness to fight back! 

Advocacy and policy work don’t happen in a vacuum; they live in relationships. Over the years, Greenbelt Alliance has built lasting connections with communities throughout the region, including the people most affected by climate-related hazards, the lack of affordable housing, the neighborhoods and residents who face the greatest risks from unchecked development, environmental degradation, and the steady erasure of open space. 

We have worked in coalition with organizations representing farmworkers, communities of color, low-income renters, and others whose voices have too often been excluded from the table where land use decisions are made. These partnerships are not peripheral to our mission. And all of our voices are critical to shape our future. The strong civic fabric that our work knits together helps build not just a physical resilience to a changing climate but also the social resilience we need to fight back against injustice

We have learned that policy victories are fragile without the community roots to defend them. Laws get enforced when people are organized enough to demand it. Protections hold when those they protect have both a seat at the table and the relationships to sustain pressure over time. And when democratic institutions themselves come under threat—as we are witnessing today, in attacks on immigrant communities, on federal agencies, on the independence of the courts—it is those same community bonds that allow people to resist, to shelter one another, and to keep going.

We see this in communities across the country living under the shadow of federal overreach and immigration enforcement that has sown fear and fractured civic trust. When people are afraid to show up, to speak out, or to engage with public processes, democracy doesn’t just weaken—it can be eliminated, along with the accountability for actions that harm people and nature.

Greenbelt Alliance stands with all communities whose ability to participate freely in civic life is under threat, because their freedom to engage is bound up inseparably with our own.

The post Acting for Change on Shifting Ground appeared first on Greenbelt Alliance.

The Bay Area is facing its biggest threat to public transportation in decades. With a looming fiscal cliff, major transit agencies—including BART, Muni, Caltrain, and AC Transit—may soon have to make difficult decisions to close stations, reduce frequencies, and shorten hours of operation. The changes are stark and could mean that agencies like BART will have to close two of its lines and more than a dozen of its stations. Consequently, riders will wait dramatically longer for their trains and will have to switch trains more often to get to their final destination.

Failure to act now will mark the start of public transit’s slow demise in the Bay Area."

Greenbelt Alliance is endorsing a new transit funding measure in five Bay Area counties called Connect Bay Area, joining a powerful coalition of advocates to save the Bay Area’s public transit. 

The campaign is currently gathering signatures to qualify for the November 2026 ballot, and we need your support to sign the petition at an in-person event in your county! 

Learn how you can support below:

How We Got Here

Funding for transit agencies in the Bay Area relies heavily on fares and local revenue sources, so when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and ridership plunged, a substantial amount of that funding disappeared. For a while, agencies were able to stay afloat due to the federal relief stimulus, but that has quickly dried up, and California has not stepped in to address those deficits. Without yearly State funding and with ridership only slowly recovering to pre-pandemic levels, agencies are not seeing the revenue needed to continue operating at full capacity.

To put this into perspective, here is what will happen in 2027 if we do not pass the transit measure:

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)

• The Blue line (Balboa to Dublin-Pleasanton) and Grey line (OAK airport) will close
• 15 stations with the lowest ridership will close, including Millbrae and Warm Springs
• 70% reduction in train hours and 24% reduction in system miles
• The agency will face a $355-$385 million budget deficit (30% of the operating budget)
• Without a funding pathway by the end of 2027, BART may have to stop all operations

SFMTA Muni

• There will be a 50% cut of Muni services 
• There will be an elimination of fare discounts and pass programs for youth and seniors
• The agency will face a $322-$398 million budget deficit (25% of the operating budget)

AC Transit

• There will be a nearly 40% cut to services
• The agency will face a $51-$72 million budget deficit (10% of the operating budget)

Caltrain

• The agency will run 1 train per hour and cut all weekend service
• The agency will face a $65-$76 million budget deficit (42% of the operating budget)

These monumental disruptions to operations are direct consequences of the fiscal cliff. However, it does not account for the myriad ramifications down the road for managing traffic, tackling climate change, meeting our housing needs, and ensuring an affordable California for all.

“Fuming” with Greenhouse Gases

With 41% of California’s greenhouse gas emissions coming from the transportation sector, losing major parts of our public transit system will allow for even more cars on the road and weaken our ability to fight the climate crisis. Without BART, drivers can expect their commute to extend by 12 more hours per week and see traffic across the Bay Bridge surging by 73%. This means less time with family and friends doing the things we love. 

In the long term, this may lead to worsening climate hazards, including droughts, flooding, and wildfires. More cars will also be a direct threat to our health and well-being, causing more air pollution, compromising air quality, and leading to higher rates of respiratory-related illnesses. By maintaining our public transit system, we can reduce GHG emissions and avoid these catastrophic changes to our communities.

Communities Connected to Transit

Three words encapsulate our housing abundance strategy: transit-oriented development (TOD). In the last two decades, many urbanists have turned their attention to creating walkable, affordable, and resilient communities that are well-connected to the places where people work, study, and play. A cornerstone of this vision is built on the idea that we should promote more homes near our public transit corridors.

BART TOD projects like MacArthur Station provide residents access to the vibrant Temescal neighborhood, while allowing easy access to commute to downtown Oakland or San Francisco. Even new project proposals like the Caltrain-adjacent Hillsdale Reimagined in San Mateo demonstrate the durability of TOD in renovating underutilized buildings and turning them into lively community spaces. 

That is why Greenbelt Alliance co-sponsored Senate Bill 79 in the California legislature, which makes it easier and faster to build homes near public transit. While SB 79 is now law, the risks of public transit’s fiscal cliff diminish the law’s application by making fewer sites viable for TOD upzoning. Other proposed TOD projects funded by transit agencies will likely be reevaluated, too. This could all delay much-needed affordable housing in the Bay Area and worsen the housing crisis.

How to Save Our Public Transit

In light of the fiscal cliff and its many consequences, communities and advocates have organized to create a new regional transportation ballot measure. Dubbed Connect Bay Area, the measure will create a ½ cent sales tax in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and Santa Clara Counties; San Francisco County will have a 1-cent sales tax. Taxes collected from this measure will be used to fund the transit operations for BART, Muni, Caltrain, and AC Transit while also funding transit transformation improvements to safety, cleanliness, convenience, and seamless integration of transit services. 

Last year, the measure passed its first hurdle as SB 63 and is now in its signature-gathering phase. By adding your name to the petition at one of our events, you will help us qualify for the 2026 November midterm election! Please continue staying connected to the campaign and we hope to see you at one of our events in the future.

The post Sign Petition To Save Bay Area’s Public Transit appeared first on Greenbelt Alliance.

Calling all climate-smart development enthusiasts: apply to join Greenbelt Alliance’s Climate SMART Development Endorsement Program (DEP) Committee.  The DEP Committee meets monthly to review, discuss, and select proposed development projects for endorsement that meet our  SMART—Sustainable, Mixed, Affordable, Resilient, Transit-Oriented—criteria and vision. These development projects advance the right kind of development in the right places across the Bay Area. (see the projects we have endorsed). 

 Applications are now open until March 17, 2026. Fill the form below to apply:

We are looking for additional members from across the Bay Area who share our climate SMART—Sustainable, Mixed, Affordable, Resilient, Transit-Oriented—vision, and professionals with expertise in housing equity, sustainability, finance, and environmental design. We would like this committee to accurately reflect a diversity of ages, professions, backgrounds, and genders, as well as employment status, including those who are in school, employed, or retired.

The meetings are currently held via Zoom every 3rd Wednesday of the month, for 1 hour, with occasional ad hoc meetings. The new committee members would attend their first meeting in April 2026.

The goals of the Climate SMART Development Endorsement Program are:

• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build resilience to climate impacts. 
• Promote equity, foster community resilience, and protect the most vulnerable. 
• Prioritize natural and green infrastructure solutions to enhance and protect natural resources and urban environments. 
• Preserve and restore ecological systems that enhance natural system functions, services, and quality and that reduce risk.

Why Join?

By promoting climate-smart development, we can create thriving, resilient neighborhoods with ready access to transit and housing for everyone. We can continue to protect the Bay Area’s greenbelts from sprawl development, preserving our open spaces for generations to come. As a trusted advocate of both open spaces and climate-smart communities, Greenbelt Alliance is in a unique position to help infill development projects move forward.

The Development Endorsement Program and Committee provides an essential environmental perspective on building housing within existing communities in the Bay Area. We pursue the SMART goals to achieve our mission of ensuring that the Bay Area’s lands and communities are resilient to a changing climate.

If you have any questions about this committee, please contact Andrew Ha at aha@greenbelt.org.

What We Are Looking For?

Title: Climate SMART Development Endorsement Committee Member
Deadline to apply: March 17, 2026
Responsibilities: All members of the Development Endorsement Committee are required to fulfill the following duties:

• Attend the 8-12 Development Endorsement Committee meetings each year.
• Review information about each development prior to the committee meeting.
• Come prepared with a high-level understanding of project(s) being reviewed and any initial questions
• Become familiar with Climate SMART Development Endorsement Guidelines and evaluate each project based on these criteria.

 

Header image: Karl Nielsen/Greenbelt Alliance

The post Join Our Climate SMART Development Endorsement Committee appeared first on Greenbelt Alliance.

Sometimes finding the love of your life is as simple as stepping away from the computer screen for a bit and enjoying the great outdoors. That’s how David met Serena–on a wildflower hike in the Marin Headlands—a meeting that almost didn’t happen if it weren’t for some “lucky stars” and the motivation to go explore. Thirteen years later, the couple is still going strong. This is their Greenbelt Alliance love story.

It was April 28, 2013. He was David D. Schmidt, Bay Area native and veteran Greenbelt Alliance outings leader since ’92. On this beautiful spring day (naturally), David was co-leading a wildflower hike in the Marin Headlands with Greenbelt Alliance Outings Coordinator and possible Cupid-in-disguise, Ken Lavin. She was Serena Enger, a recent Bay Area transplant by way of Boston and veteran Greenbelt Alliance outings-goer since 2008. So was it love at first sight?

As he puts it, “ When we sat down for lunch, I looked around and saw her, and I wanted to have lunch with her. So I sat down next to her, and we talked for a while. At the end of the hike, I wanted to keep in touch, so we exchanged numbers. I was working six days a week, long hours, and I almost missed the hike because I thought I needed a rest—I almost missed meeting Serena!  I thank, as the saying goes, my lucky stars that I went.”

She says, “He came bearing books, and as a librarian and passionate reader, I was pleased. He had such an impressive and poetic knowledge of wildflowers, the history of the bay, sustainable development, and so forth, but he was also a very kind person, and that attracted me to him.”

Their ensuing courtship reads like a Greenbelt Alliance outings calendar. On that first date, they went for a hike in Sonoma’s Jack London State Historic Park. On date two, they explored the Presidio and Golden Gate Park together. Date three took place in Rancho Corral de Tierra, a big swath of land stretching southward from Montara Mountain to Half Moon Bay.

David and Serena were a match made in the greenbelt. They’re both avid readers. They both enjoy history and politics. They like watching foreign films together at the Castro Theater. And they obviously both love Greenbelt Alliance outings. 

Six months after meeting, David proposed to Serena atop Mount Tamalpais.

“We hiked along the Matt Davis Trail on Mount Tam that’s above Stinson Beach—it’s a beautiful area with those quintessential rolling, mound-like hills of Marin County with great views of the Pacific and the whole Bolinas Ridge,” Serena recalls. “And David proposed to me on the trail as the sun was setting and we had this tremendous view of the Pacific Ocean behind us.”

To celebrate their love, they go on wildflower hikes in the Marin Headlands every April, where it all started. And their bonding love for nature endures. They spend a lot of time hiking and are currently re-landscaping our home with California indigenous plants and flowers. “It’s restorative, rejuvenating, for us.” David has also just published the book, San Francisco Bay Area:  An Environmental History (with incredible tidbits of history about Greenbelt Alliance, too).

So, this weekend if you find yourself still looking for love in all the wrong places, skip the dating apps—try looking elsewhere, like David and Serena. Maybe in the greenbelt. On one of our upcoming outings, perhaps?

“Greenbelt hikes make you feel good in two ways: First, you’re in a beautiful natural area, breathing deeply, and you always feel relaxed at the end, even if you’re tired.  Second, you learn about the great ongoing work of the Greenbelt Alliance to save natural places and foster resilient, vibrant urban places – a positive, hopeful vision we all need! You always meet other people who love nature, and you just might meet someone special!,” said David.

Happy Valentine’s Day from the matchmakers at Greenbelt Alliance!

 

 

 

Originally published on February 13, 2015, by Alex Chen. Updated by Daniela Ades with information from David Schmidt and Serena Enger.

The post A Match Made in the Greenbelt appeared first on Greenbelt Alliance.

As sea level rise increasingly affects daily life in Alameda, residents are clear about what they want to see along their shoreline: adaptation strategies that protect and work with the natural environment. Last fall, the Oakland Alameda Adaptation Committee (OAAC), along with Greenbelt Alliance, Hood Planning Group, and Community Action for a Sustainable Alameda (CASA) put out a survey asking residents how they want to tackle sea level rise along the Alameda Shoreline. Over four months, more than 170 people responded, online and in person at local businesses and spots along the shore. Questions were organized by project reach, including Bay Farm Island, the South Shore, the East End, the Northern Waterfront, and the West End and Alameda Point.

The takeaway was consistent across neighborhoods: Alamedans strongly support solutions that protect natural systems while addressing real, everyday flooding concerns.

People Really Want Nature-Based Solutions

"Wetlands are the only thing that will save Alameda in the long term.”

Residents overwhelmingly emphasized the importance of preserving and restoring wetlands, regreening shorelines, and safeguarding natural habitats as ways to adapt to sea level rise. For example, one respondent wrote: “Wetlands are the only thing that will save Alameda in the long term.” Another wrote: “Please do what is possible to incorporate natural methods for protecting the shoreline.”

Overall, when it came down to it, most people chose wetlands and natural solutions over sea walls.

A few other things stood out in people’s responses.

Fiscal Responsibility and Access Matter, Too

There was a lot of talk about fiscal responsibility and transparent budgeting; people want to make sure taxpayer money is spent wisely, and that the investments actually match the community’s needs. 

Access was another big concern. People are worried about maintaining reliable ways to get on and off the island, especially making sure the Webster and Posey Tubes don’t flood, and that traffic congestion doesn’t worsen. 

Respondents also highlighted that flooding isn’t just a future problem; it’s already happening. One person noted, “Over the past five years the paths [at the Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary] have been more and more frequently inundated with water.”

“Over the past five years the paths [at the Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary] have been more and more frequently inundated with water.”

Neighborhood Perspectives Add Nuance

“Please do what is possible to incorporate natural methods for protecting the shoreline.”

While support for both nature-based solutions and infrastructure protection was strong citywide, responses varied slightly by location. Residents in the Northside and East End tended to prioritize protecting infrastructure, including transportation routes, while respondents from the South Shore expressed comparatively stronger support for nature-based strategies. These nuances will help inform tailored adaptation approaches across Alameda.

What Happens Next

Based on what we’ve heard, the project team will continue to develop to the extent possible near- and long-term adaptation strategies that promote environmental protection, including preserving and restoring wetlands, regreening shorelines, and protecting natural habitat. Additionally, balancing concerns about congestion and transparent budgeting and decision-making will continue to be a top priority.

Looking ahead, the next iteration for sea level rise adaptation planning in Alameda will include community outreach for adaptation specific to Bay Farm Island as well as the Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP) required by the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC). 

Want to stay in the loop? Sign up for OAAC updates here, and keep your eyes peeled for more opportunities to give your input on what you’d like to see at the shoreline! 

The post Alamedans Show Strong Support for Adaptation Strategies that Protect the Environment appeared first on Greenbelt Alliance.