Equinox Center's 2014 Dashboard Highlights Strengths, Needs on Quality of Life Issues

Annual report card is a comprehensive snapshot of region's progress on sustainability, environment, economy
SAN DIEGO – On the eve of Earth Day, Equinox Center released its fifth annual San Diego Regional Quality of Life Dashboard today. Notable, positive developments were found in employment, venture capital funding, electric vehicles and solar energy. The 2014 Dashboard also noted areas in need of improvement, including air quality and water use.

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"It's good to see continued improvement in waste management and significant growth in the zero-emission vehicle market," said Equinox Center Executive Director Lani Lutar. "However, we did find there is need for improvement, particularly when it comes to water use."

The Dashboard is a nonpartisan report card compiled annually by Equinox Center, an independent, nonprofit research group, in an effort to track the region's quality of life progress. This year's Dashboard analyzed 13 economic and environmental indicators, such as air quality, energy, waste and economic prosperity.

Data was collected from 32 local, state and national agencies and organizations, including San Diego Gas & Electric, the San Diego County Water Authority, the California Department of Finance, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the U.S. Census Bureau.

The 2014 Dashboard tells us we are heading in the right direction in several areas:

• We're supporting business: Venture capital funding in San Diego increased by more than 20 percent in 2012 over the previous year. More than $1 billion was raised in investment, and San Diego ranked sixth nationally in total venture capital funding dollars received in 2012.
• We're making a connection with electric vehicles (EVs): San Diego County is home to approximately 20 percent of the roughly 30,000 EVs in California. The county has approximately 6,590 plug-in and hybrid electric vehicles, an increase of 8.8 percent from the previous year. Rebates for EVs in the region have increased by about $2.8 million since 2012.
• We're going solar: Employment in California's solar-energy sector grew by 8 percent in 2013, leading to nearly 10,000 solar jobs in the San Diego-Los Angeles corridor. Renewable energy was 20.3 percent of SDG&E sales in 2012.

"San Diego's unemployment rate is lower than the California average and we are seeing employment growth in several industries," said Mark Cafferty, CEO of San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp. "The economic outlook is bright for the San Diego region."

The 2014 Dashboard also highlights areas where improvement is needed:

• Not breathing easy: The number of unhealthy air quality days for elderly adults and children in San Diego County increased from 13 to 22 days between 2011 and 2012. The most significant challenge to improving air quality continues to be vehicle emissions.
• Not so water-wise: San Diego County's average per-person residential and business water use increased by 5 percent, from 133 gallons to 140 gallons on average per day, from 2012 to 2013. We are in the second consecutive year of declining rainfall, and despite strides toward conservation and reuse, more needs to be done to protect this precious resource.

"Water is a persistent concern in our region, particularly now amid record drought conditions," said Matt O'Malley, San Diego Coastkeeper's Waterkeeper and Legal & Policy Director. "The Dashboard's water consumption indicator is a serious concern that will motivate our work in the coming year."

The Dashboard was released today at San Diego Gas & Electric Co.'s Energy Innovation Center. It was followed by a forum on electric vehicles.

"Equinox Center once again has given our region's leaders and advocates considerable food for thought when it comes to our quality of life," said Equinox Center Board Member Ray Ellis. "There's no doubt we need to do more when it comes to air quality and water conservation, but there's a lot of encouraging news, too. We look forward to continuing to address the issues impacting our region."

We invite you to continue the Dashboard discussion on Twitter and Facebook. Please be sure to tag your tweets and posts with #SDQoL, which stands for San Diego Quality of Life.

Contacts

• Lani Lutar | Equinox Center | 619.838.9065 | lani@equinoxcenter.org


• Tony Manolatos | Equinox Center | 619.549.0137

About Equinox Center: Equinox is a nonprofit, non-partisan, independent regional research group that advances innovative solutions to balance regional growth with our finite natural resources. Our mission is to ensure a healthy environment, strong economy and vibrant communities for the San Diego region. Equinox Center turns research into action to help the San Diego region achieve a more prosperous economy, healthy environment and outstanding quality of life for all its residents as it grows. To learn more, visit equinoxcenter.org. Connect with Equinox Center on FB and follow us on Twitter @equinoxcenter.