February 23, 2022 (Moscow, Idaho) — A Climate Action Plan developed by the City of Moscow aims to take positive steps in addressing and preparing for climate challenges at the local level.
The draft plan, a culmination of a years-long effort from a wide range of community participants, is now available for public review.
“I know that for a lot of us, the challenge of climate change can feel overwhelming, but with this plan, I believe that we can get behind making a positive difference that will add to our community’s health, wellness, and prosperity,” said Mayor Art Bettge. “It’s exciting to see clear, actionable and positive steps that we can take to reduce our carbon emissions while also building our community resilience. And I believe many of these efforts could result in cost savings as well.”
Moscow has been taking a leadership role in addressing climate change for more than a decade. In 2010, the city set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions for city operations by 20 percent of 2005 levels by the year 2020 – a goal that it reached. In 2019, with that goal deadline approaching, the city’s Sustainable Environment Commission formed the Climate Action Working Group subcommittee to focus on next steps. The group published an assessment in 2020 that detailed climate impacts that Moscow can expect in future years from climate change. The City Council also added climate change as a major challenge area and held a workshop the following year to begin the process of setting a climate action goal.
The draft plan calls for the city to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 with an interim goal of reducing emissions by 56.6% by 2030. With the aim of providing a positive community example, city operations would seek to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035. To meet those goals, the plan outlines a number of key strategies and actions in areas such as power grid decarbonization, building efficiency and electrification, renewable energy, reduction of vehicle trips, waste reduction, water conservation, and augmentation of the urban tree canopy.
The draft is available for public review through March 26, 2022, with an online public forum set for March 9. Click here to view and comment on the draft plan:
https://www.ci.moscow.id.us/1002/Climate-Action-Plan
The city council will hold a workshop to review and finalize the plan on April 25.