We can all make an impact in reducing our species’ carbon footprint.
Though January is almost in the rear view window, it’s still close enough to the beginning of the year to think about breaking old habits and picking up new ones. That desire to make positive changes got us to thinking about the city of Santa Cruz’s new Climate Action Plan 2030, adopted by the Santa Cruz City Council back in September, which aims to get the city operating as a carbon-neutral entity by 2035. These plans are being prepared around the state, spurred by a state-government-level mandate.
When the plan came out, local news website SantaCruzLocal.org offered a detailed report and also made the city’s 147-page plan available online.
As a starting point, it outlines the many goals that city officials must pursue—promoting efficient energy use, protecting natural resources, eliminating food waste, and building “people-centric transportation infrastructure”—while also ensuring “equity in all policies.”
Much of the plan focuses on those goals for local government entities. But the last section, titled “Call to Action,” outlines how all of us—individual renters, homeowners and property owners, business owners and employers, and commercial and residential developers—can do our part.
