AGENDA DATE: 6/17/2020
TITLE:
Title
Draft Climate Action Plan
BODY
SUBJECT/PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Staff will seek feedback from the Board on the draft climate action plan following a presentation of the plan and a summary of recent community input.
ITEM TYPE: Regular Information Item
STAFF CONTACT(S): Richardson, Henry, Stewart, Harper, and Lowe
PRESENTER (S): Greg Harper
LEGAL REVIEW: Not Required
REVIEWED BY: Jeffrey B. Richardson
BACKGROUND: At its September 6, 2017 meeting, the Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution reaffirming the County's commitment to climate action and directed staff to develop a climate action plan. The following year, the Board identified climate action planning as one of its highest priorities during strategic planning work sessions and created the County's first full-time climate staff position. Staff - in collaboration with partners, stakeholders, and interested members of the public - have been earnestly engaged in planning work since late 2018. On October 16, 2019 the Board passed a resolution establishing community wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets (Attachment A).
STRATEGIC PLAN: Quality Government Operations: Ensure County government's capacity to provide high quality service that achieves community priorities
DISCUSSION: Successfully addressing climate change will require efforts by individuals and organizations at all levels of society. Local governments have a critical role in this endeavor - besides shifting their own operations to be more sustainable - by creating more sustainable choices for everyone who lives in, works in, and visits the County. Recent County efforts related to climate change should be considered the beginning of a permanent, adaptive program that will be critical to adequately address the threat of climate change.
The draft climate action plan presented here (Attachment B) is the culmination of the first phase of the County's climate action planning process. T...
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