Seasons Greetings Eugenians,

Your City has been hard at work since the approval of the Climate Action Plan 2.0 in July of this summer. Today we are  highlighting the City’s newest Internal Operations and Community Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventories, recent “A” score from the Carbon Disclosure Project, and details about tomorrow’s update to City Council at 12 PM. Scroll below for more information.

2019 GHG Inventories release
The City of Eugene released its 2019 Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) Inventories today! GHG Inventories are conducted every other year for both City operations and community-wide emissions to meet reporting requirements in Eugene’s Climate Recovery Ordinance (CRO). The inventories measure both GHG emissions and fossil-fuel use.

Community-wide emissions increased slightly in 2019 compared to 2017, totaling just over 1 million metric tons CO₂ equivalent (MTCO₂e).  The increase stems primarily from increases in residential energy consumption and the transportation sector. Commercial and industrial energy consumption decreased during the same time period.

City of Eugene operational emissions increased in 2019 to just over 6,000 MTCO₂e, an increase of about 24 percent. We found that the largest increase from 2017 was from fleet diesel consumption by 764 MT CO2e – this was due to renewable diesel market instability and the additional cost of over $1 per gallon of fuel, causing fleet to buy diesel blends with lower percentages of renewable fuel. Thankfully, the market has since stabilized, and Fleet has returned to using R99 fuel, a fuel blend made of 99% renewable fuel sources. 

Another change within operational emissions was an increase in natural gas emissions due to changing needs and maintenance at public facilities including the Airport, community pools, Downtown Library, and the Hult Center. The primary drivers of this were increased services to residents and some mechanical issues, which have been addressed.

City of Eugene receives “A” score from CDP
In related news, the City of Eugene received an ‘A’ score from the Carbon Disclosure Project, a global reporting agency which scores municipalities’ submissions based on their efforts to reduce emissions and build resilience to the impacts of climate change. The City was one of 88 cities globally and 1 of 25 US cities to receive an A score, reflecting the City’s comprehensive efforts towards reducing GHG emissions as well as plans to equitably build resiliency within our community.

“We know that even while we work to protect lives from COVID-19 that environmental action cannot slow down”, says Mayor Vinis. “Both people and planet must be prioritized, and we are actively taking steps to do just that through our reporting efforts and the more than 115 actions identified in the CAP2.0.”

Sustainability update to City Council Wednesday, December 9th
At the Wednesday,  December 9^th,  12pm City Council Work Session, staff will provide an update on the 2019 GHG inventories, the CAP2.0, and on motions passed by Council related to the CAP2.0 in July 2020.

We hope you are faring the remaining days of 2020 well. We look forward to continuing this good work into 2021.

Very best,
Samantha Roberts
Climate Policy Analyst, AIC
Sustainability Program

We wanted to remind you about the opportunity to share your thoughts on Lane County’s approach to climate action.

Lane County is creating a Climate Action Plan (CAP) to better understand how the County and its residents can help prepare for and address climate change. They are at the beginning of this process and want feedback from county residents that will shape how they create this plan. Please take their 5-minute survey to tell them:

• How you want to participate in the process and provide feedback on the plan
• What your priorities are for the types of actions that they can include in the plan

Due to the impact of the unprecedented forest fires Lane County is leaving the survey open one more week until midnight on Sunday, October 4^th.

Best,
Eugene Sustainability Staff 

Lane County Wants to Hear From You! 

Lane County Wants to Hear From You! Take the County’s survey to share your priorities on their Climate Action Plan before September 30.

 

Lane County is creating a Climate Action Plan (CAP) to better understand how the County and its residents can help prepare for and address climate change. They are at the beginning of this process and want feedback from county residents that will shape how they create this plan. Please take their 5-minute survey to tell them:

• How you want to participate in the process and provide feedback on the plan
• What your priorities are for the types of actions that they can include in the plan

The survey will be available until September 30. You can learn more about this process on the County’s website.

Sincerely,
Eugene Sustainability Staff

The Eugene City Council approved Eugene’s Community Climate Action Plan 2.0 this afternoon! Thank you to all who participated, provided comments, or helped shape this plan in some other way. This is a major milestone on Eugene’s Climate Journey. 

This plan shifts our community climate work in many important ways: 

• We focused on the data, and identified the pathway we need to take to achieve the CRO goals. 
• We committed to action. The plan includes 115 Actions committed to by the City of Eugene and the Eugene Climate Collaborative Partners; 41 Equity Recommendations from the CAP2.0 Equity Panel; 25 State and Federal Actions highlighting the importance of action at all levels.
• We built our community capacity to address climate change.  From the Eugene Climate Collaborative, to the Equity Panel, to the Mayor’s CRO Ad Hoc Work Group, we engaged the community in new ways.  
  
  

Updated Draft Community Climate Action Plan 2.0 Coming July 2020

After 2.5 years of community engagement and research, the City of Eugene is poised to publish the community’s updated climate action plan, or CAP2.0.  The draft of this Plan was initially released in November 2019 and has since been updated with guidance from the Mayor’s CRO Ad Hoc Work Group. The CAP 2.0 is the update from Eugene's 2010 Climate and Energy Action Plan.

A unique plan that focuses on agency and partner commitments, the CAP 2.0 identifies high impact practices among community partners that have larger, system level impacts. The Plan also elevates the concerns of frontline communities who are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Utilizing input from a diverse range of community partners, this Plan represents the voice and aspirations of the community as we work together to reduce our emissions and achieve the climate goals set forth by the Climate Recovery Ordinance.

City Council will hear from staff about the CAP 2.0 process and document starting in July.  Here is a list of upcoming dates as City Council works towards approval of the CAP2.0:

• Early July - Release updated CAP2.0 document
• July 8 - CAP2.0 Work Session
• July 13 - Public Forum
• July 15- CAP 2.0 Work Session
• July 27 -Public Forum
• July 29 – CAP 2.0 Work Session

For more information about the CAP2.0 including the document’s history and process to date, please visit https://www.eugene-or.gov/4284/Climate-Action-Plan-20.