Austin’s Office of Sustainability lands EPA grant to tackle greenhouse gas emissions

The city of Austin will soon join cities across the nation in a federal initiative to curb greenhouse gas emissions, with a $1 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency slated to kick off the planning process this October.

The Climate Pollution Reduction Grant Program, issued via the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, will fund research and development of long-term projects to reduce Austin’s carbon footprint. Per the grant’s terms, city staff will return with a Priority Action Plan in 2024, followed by a Comprehensive Climate Action Plan in 2025 and a status report in 2027.

“I want to applaud the Office of Sustainability for successfully pursuing this $1 million EPA Climate Pollution Reduction Grant,” Mayor Pro Tem Paige Ellis said following its authorization at last month’s City Council meeting. “Over the next three years, this will expand our planning and action beyond the city limits, partner with our surrounding counties and cities, and prepare us for the $4.6 billion in competitive implementation grants for climate action to be released in the next two years.”

The city of Austin is no stranger to tackling climate issues: In 2021, Council issued a bold commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2040 as part of its own Climate Equity Plan, zeroing in on sustainable buildings, renewable energy programs, cleaner transportation, and food consumption and waste practices as central strategies.

Data from the city’s Office of Sustainability shows Austin’s carbon footprint peaking at 15.1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide back in 2011. In the decade since, that figure has steadily decreased to 11.8 million metric tons by 2021, due largely to Austin Energy’s investment in utility-scale renewable resources like wind and solar. As building emissions continue to decrease, the transportation sector will soon take the lead as the city’s largest greenhouse gas source, placing vehicle electrification, public transportation investment and denser development strategies at the forefront of efforts to reduce emissions.

Austin’s sustainability office is also taking new approaches to tracking emissions, most recently publishing a consumption-based emissions study that broadens carbon footprint data to consider the impact of goods and services consumed within city limits but produced elsewhere. Staff says the data will provide a more holistic view of Austin’s footprint within the global ecosystem, with the hopes of inspiring new approaches to sustainable consumption practices.

“This approach to emissions tracking more fully captures the climate impact of our lives by recognizing that the global supply chains for products and services often involve emissions produced in other cities, states, or countries,” reads a memo from Chief Sustainability Officer Zach Baumer. “When used together, traditional and consumption-based inventories can offer a clearer picture of our community’s carbon footprint and a more comprehensive understanding of where our emissions are coming from.”

The city’s sustainability office will begin the planning process for the new climate plan sometime this month, alongside regional partners and fellow grant recipients in Kyle, Buda, San Marcos, Lakeway, Cedar Park, Round Rock and Pflugerville, as well as Travis, Hays and Bexar counties. In the meantime, readers can check out the city’s progress on its existing Climate Equity Plan at the city’s website.

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