Orange skyline of San Francisco during extreme fires of 2020

Sustainability and Resilience

We believe: The region should be environmentally just, carbon-neutral,
and resilient to climate change and earthquakes.

Our Goals

• Decarbonize buildings.

• Make the region resilient to sea level rise and other climate-driven natural disasters.

• Improve communities’ resilience to earthquakes.

computer rendering of a concrete creek channel that has been converted to public space, with a bike path, trees and people sitting on concrete steps in the creek bed,

SPUR Report

Watershed Moments

Climate scientists predict that California will experience longer, more frequent droughts as the climate warms. How can the Bay Area better manage the limited water it has? SPUR, Greenbelt Alliance and Pacific Institute teamed up to highlight six Northern California leaders who are pioneering more sustainable approaches to water use.
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City streets and buildings next to waterfront. Wooden poles stick up from the water.

SPUR Report

Water for a Growing Bay Area

The Bay Area is projected to add 2 million jobs and as many as 6.8 million people in the next 50 years. But can we add more jobs and build more housing without using more water? New research from SPUR and the Pacific Institute says yes.
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SPUR Report

Safety First: Improving Hazard Resilience in the Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area is both a treasured place and a hazardous environment where flooding, wildfires and earthquakes are common today. As a region exposed to multiple hazards, how can we manage for all of them at the same time?

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Ongoing Initiative

The Resilient City

We know that another major earthquake will strike San Francisco — we just don’t know when. Since 2008, SPUR has led a comprehensive effort to retrofit the buildings and infrastructure that sustain city life. Our Resilient City Initiative recommends steps the city should take before, during and after the next big quake.

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Black and white photo of a sink faucet running water

Article

Lessons Learned From California’s COVID-19 Water Debt Relief Program

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the State Legislature established the California Water and Wastewater Arrearage Payment Program to provide financial relief for unpaid water bills. But water affordability struggles won’t end with the pandemic. The state will need to build upon its first experiment with water bill assistance to weather ongoing climate change and income inequality. SPUR investigates the success of the $985 million program and looks at lessons learned.
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Ongoing Initiative

Ocean Beach Master Plan

Ocean Beach, one of San Francisco’s most treasured landscapes, faces significant challenges. Since 2010, SPUR has led an extensive interagency and public process to develop the Ocean Beach Master Plan, a comprehensive vision to address sea level rise, protect infrastructure, restore coastal ecosystems and improve public access.

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Updates and Events

Report cover with illustration of houses plugging into electric energy

Closing the Electrification Affordability Gap

SPUR Report
New Bay Area regulations are ushering in a transition from gas furnaces and water heaters to electric-powered heat pumps, which heat air and water without emitting harmful pollutants, use far less energy, and would greatly reduce the region’s carbon emissions. A major challenge in adopting heat pumps is that, for now, they cost more to install. SPUR’s detailed action plan shows how incentives and electrical code changes can help the Bay Area make this transition affordable for low-income households.

Public Comment Letter on Tri-City Local Hazard Mitigation Plan

Advocacy Letter
SPUR, Save the Bay, and Greenbelt Alliance jointly submitted public comment on the Draft 2024 Tri-City Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) update covering City of Newark, City of Fremont, City of Union City, Alameda County Water District and Union Sanitary District. We are pleased to see that the draft addressed climate impacts like sea level rise, urban heat, flooding, wildfires, and earthquakes. Our letter to the Tri-City LHMP planning committee asks for more specificity in the sea level rise, flood, earthquake, and multi-hazard resilience policies and a greater emphasis on nature-based solutions and preserving natural resources.

Coalition Signals Opposition to Highway Widening in Regional Transportation Measure

Advocacy Letter
SPUR and a large coalition of environmental, environmental justice, transit, and housing advocates have signaled their view that a new Bay Area's regional transportation measure should not include highway widening. Highway widening - expanding the physical footprint or geometry of highways and roadways exclusively for vehicular throughput - promotes driving and consequently increases climate pollution and safety hazards, while drawing riders away from public transit alternatives.

Ensuring That the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable Supplemental Benefits Program Doesn’t End

Advocacy Letter
On behalf of SPUR and Nourish California, we respectfully request that the 2024-2025 budget include an additional, one-time allocation of $21 million from the General Fund to sustain the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable Supplemental Benefits program. If additional funding is not provided in the FY 24-25 budget, the program will run out of funds this summer and tens of thousands of Californians across the state will have less money to put food on their tables.
Brooklyn Basin, Oakland

Oakland Adopts SPUR Recommendations in Its General Plan Update

News /
Oakland has launched what it describes as a “once-in-a generation” opportunity to create a visionary blueprint for the city’s future. SPUR sprang to action when the city released its inaugural draft Environmental Justice Element and its draft Safety Element update as part of the city’s 2045 General Plan Update. Our efforts paid off: the city council adopted several of our recommendations, all of which will help economically vulnerable Oaklanders, in particular.
California State Capitol

Governor Newsom Signs SPUR-Sponsored Bills Into Law

News /
The close of the 2023 state legislative year brought a number of big wins for SPUR. Governor Newsom signed nine pieces of SPUR-sponsored legislation that will, among other things, prevent the misuse of environmental review processes to stop or delay new housing, pilot speed safety cameras on streets with high crash rates, and speed up timelines for connecting all-electric buildings and EV charging stations to the power grid.
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