By Lookout Staff

February 27, 2019 -- Members of the public have until April 1 to weigh in on the City's plan to dramatically reduce Santa Monica's carbon footprint.

The Climate Action & Adaptation Plan -- which is tentatively scheduled to be approved by the City Council at its meeting May 14 -- will help the city "reduce carbon emissions and become climate resilient," City officials said.

The 59-page document "provides a road map to transition to low-carbon lifestyles and technologies and significantly reduce our fossil fuel consumption," according to the draft plan.

"The next few years are critical to reducing our carbon emissions so we can avoid the worst climate change impacts," said Mayor Gleam
Davis.

"This transformation will disrupt the status quo and require community investment in the goal and a willingness to change behaviors."

The City's goal is to reduce carbon emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, which "will require a massive shift in our lifestyles and investments," the plan said.

The plan will allow Santa Monica to achieve its "carbon neutrality" goal under the Paris Climate Agreement "well before" 2050, officials said.

The "toolkit" that will help the city achieve its goal is still expanding, Davis said.

"New developments in the energy and mobility industries are pushing the City to innovate and adapt to these new opportunities which will help Santa Monica reach its goals," she said.

The plan acknowledges that "even if all emissions were eliminated today we would still see climate change impacts in the future."

As a result, the plan also "provides a pathway to enhance our community resilience and infrastructure to be climate ready."

"This plan is a call to action for our government, businesses, and residents," Davis said.

"Great challenges offer great opportunities. We must be bold, ambitious, and daring."

To comment on the plan, click here