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It looks like the future of California policymaking may be more collaborative and less like silos—according to California Energy Commissioner Anthony Eggert, the CEC is working with such federal departments as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation not only to talk about today’s standards, but to also envision the next steps for the state, 2017 through 2025.

SB 375 is a piece of legislation that goes a long way toward bringing together different cities to think regionally about land use, transportation, and environmental goals—and to see how the decisions of one group affect the others. Anthony says that as local governments see the “co-benefits” as the return on their time and intellect, that the state may well see more of a move toward going above and beyond legislation, instead of simply meeting the requirement. For an interesting tour of the state of California, as seen through the eyes of its Energy Commission, check out: www.energy.ca.gov.

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State Energy Commissioner Anthony Eggert talked to The Real Story about some of the new products and technologies that are changing the way Californians get around town, to their jobs, and deliver their kids to school. With automakers as diverse as Nissan and Tesla bringing new electric vehicles to the consumer market, we are going to be seeing plug-in vehicles and plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles on the local roadways. The diversity of consumer profiled within the state means that there is plenty of room for technological innovation, says Anthony.

Won’t these plug-in vehicles drain energy from the very grid that we are trying NOT to overload? According to Anthony, the new vehicles can be charged in off-peak periods, which actually helps integrate such non-solar energy sources as wind energy. The main thing to keep in mind, he says, is that the state is supporting transportation energy options as we move ahead.

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California Energy Commissioner Anthony Eggert spent some time with The Real Story at last fall’s West Coast Green Conference at Fort Mason in San Francisco. What did he see at the conference that he found exciting? The amount of innovation in product development—and the relative speed with which new products can now enter the mainstream of the consumer marketplace, where the REAL market research takes place. Will new products cause consumers to change behaviors? Will consumers pay more for products that are easier on the earth?

He points to the example of hybrid vehicles, saying that roughly one in four hybrids driven today are purchased in California. He also surprised us with the statistic that 400,000 – 500,000 Californians own flex-fuel vehicles, which use gas or 85 percent biofuel in the form of ethanol. The state is supporting the flex-fuel vehicle users by investing in new stations. Anthony shares that there is emerging a new generation of biofuels—the first used food products like corn; the next generation is looking at agricultural and municipal waste. He talks today about algae that can produce a synthetic petroleum product.  There is so much experimentation and research, and so much of it happening right here.

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Commissioner Anthony Eggert of the California Energy Commission is talking with The Real Story about how investing in better land use patterns can actually provide a better quality of life for the residents of our state. He has shared that transit works best when people have direct access to goods and services in the areas around the stations; the next step is thinking how a livable, walkable, bikeable transit hub might pencil, so that private businesses can support and take a creative lead in implementing this kind of transportation-rich master planning.

Anthony tells us today that the Energy Commission has a program to invest in a portfolio of alternatives to petroleum. With $60 billion a year, or $150 million a day, going to transportation fuels for cars, trucks and planes, and two-thirds of that money leaving the state, the magnitude of fuel on our economy is a stunner. The CEC is looking to leverage private investment toward clean energy technology to stop dependence on the petroleum providers, reduce California’s carbon footprint and encourage a healthier lifestyle.

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This week, The Real Story is re-posting a series of interviews with Commissioner Anthony Eggert of the California Energy Commission. In a wide-ranging interview, in which new homes, old construction and the jobs-housing balance were discussed, Anthony talked about the importance of understanding transportation’s role in reducing California’s carbon footprint.

He gives kudos to the Sacramento Blueprint, a Transportation and Land Use Plan, developed five years ago by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments. Calling it a “leap forward in long-range planning”, Anthony says that California hopes to see other regions take on the same approach to analyzing the costs of “business as usual” and taking on the role of creating alternate plans that can conserve land and energy, reduce congestion and add to the quality of life of their residents.

Today’s podcast is available for downloading; Anthony’s outlook for California in the next decade will continue every day this week.

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Reviewing the home page for The Preserve, the reader gathers quickly that the planning team is “following established and proven sustainability principles from Smart Growth and One Planet Living …returning wetlands that attract wildlife, preserving agricultural lands that will provide locally-grown, healthy foods… creating habitats for native species…as stewards of the environment and the community.” Talking to David Nelson from the A.G. Spanos Companies this week has been illuminating in highlighting all of the moving parts that comprise one well-planned community.

Also interesting are David’s comments about building on the edges of a town as a sustainable solution to sprawl; creating the boundary for a city by creating a greenbelt that provides separation as well as connection. The whole week’s conversation is available here, or as a download on iTunes.