An updated Climate Action Plan released Tuesday aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions in San Diego by half and switch to all electricity use to renewable sources by 2035.
Mayor Kevin Faulconer, City Council President Todd Gloria and Council President Pro Tem Sherri Lightner announced the strategies from the Alvarado Water Treatment Plant and outlined steps to achieve the ambitious targets.
"This is a plan for creating economic opportunity for every San Diego family and community, and I truly believe that we have an opportunity to make San Diego one of the green energy and solar capitals of the world," said Faulconer.
The city’s goals are in line with state requirements to significantly reduce greenhouse gases by 2050.
According to Faulconer, the Climate Action Plan is designed to create new renewable energy jobs, improve public health and air quality, increase water quality and save taxpayer money by cutting water, energy and waste use.
The city leaders listed actions they could take to carry out the plan, pending city council approval:
- Create a set of regulations and incentives to improve buildings’ energy and water efficiency
- Cut vehicle travel and encourage alternative transit like biking, walking and public transportation
- Retime stoplights across the city to better coordinate traffic
- Install 20 roundabouts by 2035
- Reach a 75 percent waste diversion rate to landfills by 2020 and a 90 percent rate by 2035, meaning trash should be reduced through recycling, reuse or composting
- Build electric vehicle charging stations
- Convert the city’s fleet to 50 percent electric vehicles by 2020 and 90 percent by 2035
- Capture 98 percent of methane from wastewater treatment plants by 2035
- Run 100 percent of city trash trucks on natural gas by 2035
“This plan demonstrates that San Diego is a progressive leader in addressing climate change, and that we value our people and our environment enough to take such decisive and strong action,” said Gloria.
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This draft of the Climate Action Plan is open to public input. Once all feedback is accounted for, city staff will revise the outline, perform an environmental review and bring it in front of the city council in spring 2015.
