What’s next for our Climate Action Plan?

On December 4th, 2019, Bend joined the ranks of 413 communities across the US and Canada with Climate Action and Sustainability Plans*. This means that our goals to reduce our fossil fuel use 40% by 2030 and 70% by 2050 are bigger than meets the eye. Cumulatively, these plans cover more than 70 million citizens. With this awesome power of collective action from coast to coast, we will make a difference.

Our Community Climate Action Plan is a set of 20 recommended strategies and 42 related sub-actions. The analysis has been done on these strategies and we can reach our goals, but it is going to take partners and individuals across the community working together to implement the CCAP.

So, what’s next?

• On February 19th, 2020, the City Council will hear a recommendation from staff on the formation of an Environment and Climate Committee.  This citizen committee will oversee the implementation of the CCAP as well as advise on additional environmental topics. If you are interested in applying, stay tuned!
• The City will be considering program and funding recommendations for supporting community education and outreach.
• The City is getting to work on the actions they are leading, including determining pathways for achieving 100% renewable electricity supply goal.
• We are digging in and looking at how/if our programs can help reach our fossil fuel reduction goals. Even though the Home Energy Score (HES) wasn’t included as a mandatory action in the plan, we are still committed to finding creative new ways to incentivize residential efficiency. This is one of our top priorities this year.

As we move forward, we will continue to call on the power of your collective voices and actions. You helped us get here but the real work is just beginning. We have our work cut out for us so stay tuned as we get to work bringing this plan to life this year!

*Thank you to Zero Energy Project for the work they have done documenting climate plans across the country!