The city still has to rework or commit more funding and resources toward the majority of the goals involved in implementing its Climate Equity Plan, which aims to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. A recent staff memo from Chief Sustainability Officer Zach Baumer outlines the challenges and next steps involved in realizing the […]
Climate Equity Plan
Posted inEnvironment
Benefits of urban trees justify projected price tag for city’s tree inventory plan
Funding to conduct an inventory of Austin’s public trees did not make it into this year’s budget as a City Council-approved resolution called for, but city officials say cost recommendations should be ready for the next budget cycle. An Oct. 11 memo from Development Services Director José G. Roig and Parks and Recreation interim Director […]
Posted inTransit
Report suggests Austin reach net-zero climate goals via housing density and increased transit
The Environmental Commission heard a presentation last week on a research paper that discusses how Austin can reach its net-zero carbon emission goals via increased housing density. The report is the result of nonprofit Transit Forward, which is dedicated to educating and engaging the public regarding transit projects, particularly Project Connect. One of the nonprofit’s […]
Posted inEnvironment
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 […]
Posted inEnvironment
New City Council kicks off 2023 with UN biodiversity pledge
Austin’s brand-new City Council has officially begun legislating, kicking things off with an ambitious pledge to environmental stewardship. The resolution, sponsored by Council Member Leslie Pool, commits the city to adopt 23 targets established at the UN’s 15th Convention on Biological Diversity, which Pool attended late last year. The UN framework lists managed conservation and […]
Posted inLand Development Code
City moving forward with new floodplain maps from Atlas 14 rainfall study
The city is moving forward with its effort to update its floodplain maps, in anticipation of an expected increase in dramatic rainfall and flooding events caused by climate change over the next decade. Earlier this month, the Watershed Protection Department began mailing notices to properties located in or near a potential floodplain once the new […]
Posted inDevelopment
Builders talk pros/cons of city’s push for environmentally friendly construction
As Austin moves closer toward its net-zero energy goals, the city’s building and development community will play a major role in making new buildings environmentally sound and gradually retrofitting existing buildings to be more energy efficient. How to manage those costs and responsibilities was the topic for a recent Urban Land Institute panel held in […]
Posted inEnvironment
Climate Equity Plan proposes speeding up net-zero emissions goal to 2040
Austin’s much-anticipated Climate Equity Plan was presented to City Council on Tuesday morning after almost two years of hard work and delay. The city’s last climate action plan was adopted in June 2015, with the intention of updating it every five years. Its update – the final draft of which is now complete – proposes […]
Posted inEnvironment
As climate crisis deepens, Austin looks to speed up emission reductions
Austin would effectively emit zero greenhouse gases 10 years earlier than previously planned if a new proposal from city staff comes to fruition – but the goal would require a dramatic acceleration of the progress the city has already made toward its climate targets. The draft for the city’s Climate Equity Plan says the more […]
Posted inEnergy
Combating climate change in Austin to start at Austin Energy
As the Office of Sustainability’s newly revised Climate Equity Plan makes its way through boards and commissions for public comment, its latest stop was the Electric Utility Commission on Sept. 14. Zach Baumer, who is the program manager for the plan, told commissioners that while there are plenty of ways Austinites can help the city […]
Posted inEnvironment
Commissioners identify reliance on electric vehicles as weakness in revised Climate Equity Plan
Transportation is the main driver of local air pollution and is on its way to becoming the single greatest source of greenhouse gases in Austin. Though the city and Capital Area Metropolitan Transportation Authority are taking steps to electrify their fleets, the city’s revised draft Climate Equity Plan has identified the roughly 600,000 fossil-fuel-burning private […]