About the Petaluma Equitable Climate Action Coalition (PECAC)

Climate change has already greatly impacted our community in the last few years. The effects of climate change are not foreign to us, and as tends to be the case, communities rendered most vulnerable by racist systems bear the brunt of the impact:

  • In order to address climate change, we must address the fact that in Petaluma 60-70% of our greenhouse gas emissions (pollution that causes climate change) come from transportation.
  • A primary reason for this is the historical prioritization of investment in highway development over public transportation and our resulting dependance on single occupant vehicles to get around.
  • This historical underinvestment in meeting the mobility needs of low-income and people of color has resulted in racial disparities in transportation-related burdens and benefits, often exacerbating social inequities in other areas like health and wealth.

Communities who are closest to the pain of the problem, are also closest to the solution. Those rendered most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change must be at the forefront of how decisions are made to implement solutions equitably.

Daily Acts recognized the opportunity to empower and uplift underrepresented communities while putting forward a new model of equitable engagement by launching the Petaluma Equitable Climate Action Coalition (PECAC). PECAC was a six month pilot program designed and facilitated by Daily Acts and Equity First Consulting to empower the communities most impacted by climate change, and who have historically been underrepresented in decision making. From  September 2021 – March 2023, two cohorts of PECAC gave input and issued recommendations into how the City of Petaluma can prioritize policies, programs and resources to address transportation equitably.

Petaluma Equitable Climate Action Coalition 1.0

Pictured: PECAC 1.0 Cohort including Celeste Chavez Hernandez, Luis Chavarin, Ri Bussey, Lisa Lim, David M. Ortega Jimenez, and Kymberly Bailey with Daily Acts’ Leadership Institute Program Manager Kerry Fugett, Executive Director Trathen Heckman, and his daughter Ella. 

PECAC 1.0 first launched in Spring of 2021 with six members of the Petaluma community. Over the course of six months, the team analyzed the Petaluma Climate Emergency Framework, conducted three listening sessions, and synthesized their ideas for action into policy recommendations. They presented these recommendations to the City Council, City Staff and key decision makers in Sonoma County. Below, you can view their Climate Action Policy Recommendations.

Petaluma Equitable Climate Action Coalition 2.0

Pictured: PECAC 2.0 Cohort including Lynn Gen, Julio Rodriguez, Kaylia Brown, and Evan Cantwell, with Equity First Consulting’s Ana Lugo, Daily Acts’ Leadership Institute Program Manager Kerry Fugett and Petaluma Equitable Climate Action Coalition Program Coordinator Ri Bussey. 

PECAC 1.0 was such a success that the City funded a second cohort to advance the transportation related recommendations from the first cohort. During PECAC 2.0, four Petaluma community members committed over sixty hours to learning, conducting focus groups, and synthesizing and presenting policy recommendations to the City. Presentations were also given to the Climate Action Commission, Transit Advisory Committee, and Pedestrian Bicycle Advisory Committee.

PECAC program methodology took a transformative approach by:

  • Conducting an intentional design process working in partnership and shifting the paradigm of who is an expert by applying a transformative lens outreach, interviews, selection criteria and curriculum design to center the wisdom, expertise and voices of folks who have experienced systemic inequities.
  • Fostering relationships and a space to build trust within the coalition where participants feel seen and valued, can be courageous and vulnerable, and show up as their full selves.
  • Removing barriers by providing $1800 stipends for participation and honor the time, energy and work of folks engaged in program.
  • Embracing discomfort and continual learning by actively decentering of whiteness, trusting the process, and humanizing climate change.