South Lake Tahoe, CA- The City of South Lake Tahoe unanimously voted to adopt its first-ever Climate Action Plan in the October 20th City Council meeting. When the 100% Renewable Resolution was adopted in 2017, South Lake Tahoe became the 26th city in the nation to commit to 100% renewable community electricity by 2032 and committed to an 80% reduction in community greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.
With aggressive renewable energy and emissions reduction targets ahead, the City needed guidance on how it was to achieve its goals. Moving forward, the City will use the CAP as a dynamic, policy-guiding roadmap to provide insight on strategies and actions that can be taken in the community to help move towards those goals.
“People come to South Lake Tahoe because of the pristine environment we’ve fostered here for so long,” said City Manager, Joe Irvin, “City Council affirmed their commitment to this national treasure by passing the Climate Action Plan, which underscores just how important it is that people and policy work together to keep our environment clean and clear for future generations.”
The CAP will be instrumental in the City’s pursuit of creating a more sustainable and climate resilient community. It is composed of six comprehensive chapters, which include: an introduction to climate action plans, the local effects of climate change felt today and expected in the future, a deep-dive into the greenhouse gas emissions inventories for 2015 and 2018 in the City, the subsequent strategies and actions to reduce community-wide emissions previously identified by the inventories, an assessment of climate change vulnerabilities and adaptation strategies, and finally an outline of how the City will implement the strategies in the plan and move forward in the future.
The CAP was developed through an extensive process that emphasized engagement from stakeholders and the community. The City worked to identify the emissions sources in the community, establish emissions reduction targets, and develop the CAP document. This included several community engagement events to get feedback and the process will begin again with a new emissions inventory to inform the City on its progress.
Together, all of these actions will help guide the important steps needed to help the City and its residents adjust to and reduce the impacts of climate change, while also exploring ways to implement cost savings wasted on inefficient and outdated energy. The City has continued to demonstrate its commitment and leadership to environmental stewardship, climate resilience, and a better future for its residents.