Business as usual practices are projected to exacerbate the impacts of climate change. For any jurisdiction, addressing climate change will require the commitment to changing behaviors and undertaking a "carbon diet." The first step, then, is to step on the scale. Local governments need to know their baseline, determined by a greenhouse gas emissions inventory, before they can identify reduction measures. The following policy areas and proposed measures, while not exhaustive, represent the main opportunities to shed GHG emissions and improve overall community health.
Transportation - The transportation sector accounts for 38% of California's GHG emissions, which are expected to increase by 25% if no action is taken by 2020. Strategies to improve personal mobility and goods movement without burning fossil fuels are critical to reducing GHG emissions impacts.
- Expand and increase access to public transit systems
- Develop multi-modal systems (integrating vehicular and bicycle and pedestrian needs)
- Promote carpooling
- Reduce/eliminate minimum parking requirements
- Design safe routes to schools
- Support fuel diversification (e.g., biodiesel, hydrogen, CNG)
Conservation and Open Space - In addition to providing social and recreational benefits, open space (including forests) help sequester carbon through natural systems.
- Preserve agriculture
- Expand tree cover citywide and practice sustainable urban forestry
- Reduce solid waste (recycling of construction and demolition materials, composting food and organic waste, proper disposal of hazardous materials)
Land Use and Community Design - One of the most challenging topics, planning how we use land is a foundational step to determining whether other GHG reduction strategies can be optimized. Buildings may be adapted and reconstituted over time, but community infrastructure (e.g., street patterns, mix of uses, circulation) is more difficult and costly to retrofit. Getting community design right the first time with prudent and thoughtful planning pays long-term dividends.
- Focus on walkability (shorter block sizes, increased connections, pedestrian scale)
- Mix uses (provide services within walking/biking distance)
- Cluster development for a compact footprint (increase density)
- Design and construct green buildings
- Preserve historic structures and places
Green Infrastructure - Natural systems provide valuable ecological services - treating and filtering waste and stormwater, reducing carbon emissions, increasing groundwater recharge. Connecting and enhancing these non-mechanical systems can conserve critical natural and financial resources required for construction of traditional infrastructure.
- Promote Low Impact Development (LID) stormwater management strategies (maximize permeability in developed areas)
- Build natural wetland treatment systems to improve water quality
- Install green roofs
Air Quality - Inasmuch as reducing GHG emissions is about restoring environmental health, it is also about improving our individual physical well being. CARB estimates that implementing its Climate Change Draft Scoping Plan (June 2008) could reduce harmful air pollution and provide $2 billion in associated public health benefits by 2020.
- Expand a bicycle and trail network for recreation and commuting to work
- Support alternative fuel options
- Optimize traffic flows using controlled intersection with Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)
Water and Wastewater - Distributing water supplies throughout the state requires tremendous energy to collect, pump, and treat the water. Focusing on local water conservation efforts and reducing imported supplies enables a city to not only guard against diminishing supplies, but also reduce GHG emissions.
- Support water conservation (rainwater harvesting, graywater applications, dual flush toilets, irrigation improvements and xeriscaping, high-efficiency appliances)
- Maximize opportunities for groundwater recharge and water recycling (match quality of water with the appropriate use)
Energy - Inextricably linked to climate change, energy (its production, use, and management) is a topic with wide-ranging impacts. Operating buildings, transportation systems, water and electrical infrastructure, for example, all require energy often provided by fossil fuel burning activities.
- Support energy conservation (rebates/incentives for installing CFLs, high-efficiency appliances and high-performance insulation)
- Promote renewable energy generation (photovoltaics, wind, geothermal, biomass)
- Examine opportunities for district energy systems
- Recapture and use methane from landfills
City Operations - Local governments can demonstrate leadership in the climate change arena by examining and modifying their own practices.
- Institutionalize sustainable procurement/purchasing practices (preference for recycled content products, eliminating purchase of bottled water)
- Provide flextime and allow telecommuting
- Replace municipal bus and car fleets with high-efficiency models and low carbon and/or alternative fuel vehicles
Climate Policy Toolkit
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