County reports modest emissions change; officials stress continued climate work

The Board of Supervisors received a progress update Jan. 27 on the county’s '1 Climate Initiative,' the 2030 Climate Action Plan and the Energy Assurance Plan. Garrett Wong, sustainability-division manager, summarized implementation steps, internal tracking, and interdepartmental coordination, and presented greenhouse-gas inventory results comparing 2018 (baseline) with 2023.

Wong reported a roughly 1% net increase in countywide emissions between 2018 and 2023. He said notable sectoral changes include a nearly 30% decline in nonresidential natural-gas use and a decrease in commercial on-road vehicle driving, while electricity-sector emissions increased in the short term as the county transitioned its electricity supplier (3CE) and shifted away from renewable energy credits toward long-term renewable procurement. Staff stressed that electricity emissions are expected to fall as new renewable projects come online.

The county is expanding electric-vehicle charging, streamlining solar permitting, procuring mobile power trailers for emergencies and improving internal energy-management systems for large facilities. Public comment from Michael Chiakos of the Community Environmental Council supported the plan and urged continued pressure on 3CE to meet renewable procurement objectives (60% by 2025; 100% by 2030). Supervisors discussed resilience, grant leverage, and the limitations of statewide policy changes (federal/state grant reductions and the temporary freeze on building-code changes) on local progress.

The board voted unanimously to receive and file the report. Staff said they will continue quarterly or regular progress reporting, pursue grant funding where feasible and return with further updates.