Our climate action plan's success hinges on the diversity of voices engaged in creating it. As a first step in getting people involved, we have been interviewing leaders and representatives of various components of our county’s communities, economy and stakeholders, along with concerned residents, subject matter experts and community activists. Our next step is to convene a Community Advisory Task Force to take what we’ve learned, combined with the data and modeling from Sustainability Solutions Group, to shape the climate action plan.

Interested in representing your community? Applications will be open until January 11. Apply through the climate action plan website!

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions act like a blanket that traps heat around the earth. The more there are in the atmosphere, the warmer the planet becomes, which leads to changes in the climate. Human consumption of fossil fuels is responsible for the majority of these emissions. Changes in our climate from these GHG emissions have been taking place over the past few decades and have been accelerating in recent years.

A critical component of any climate action plan includes a list of actions that significantly reduce GHGs across a wide range of sectors and industries. Identifying emission sources is the first step in climate action planning – and Clackamas County did just that through a recent Greenhouse Gas Inventory. The data will be used by our consulting partner, Sustainability Solutions Group, to create emission reductions models to identify the actions that can have the highest impact on helping us reach our goal of being carbon neutral by 2050. Read the full 2018 Clackamas County inventory report.

The two largest sources of local emissions are:

These two sectors make up 90% of greenhouse gas emission sources in the county.

There are many options for lowering energy use in buildings that also typically save on costs. Examples in an article from Fast Company show the potential emissions and financial savings of smart energy use.

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Help us spread the word! Essential to our success in creating a representative, meaningful and effective climate action plan is engagement with the diverse people and views of Clackamas County. Forward on our newsletter to anyone you think should be part of the conversation - students, neighbors, colleagues, supervisors, electeds - and encourage them to sign up and stay in the climate action plan loop!