Placer County working together to meet California's Greenhouse Emissions goal.

I would like to take a moment to bring your attention to Placer County’s first-ever Sustainability Plan, a road map to meet California’s greenhouse gas emission reduction goals.

The goal of the plan is to reduce carbon emissions and our vulnerability to risks associated with climate change. It is designed to offset and avoid GHG emissions associated with county operations and community activities in the unincorporated areas of the county. It addresses emissions from buildings, land use, transportation, water consumption and waste generation.

In 2019, Placer County ranked number one in California for quality of life, which makes our county a very desirable place for people to live, work, play and learn. One of the things I love most about Placer County is the proximity of our vibrant population centers in the valley to our natural open spaces including rural foothill areas and vast mountains and wildlands. Unfortunately, however, our county is vulnerable to a wide range of climate-related hazards, including drought, flooding, avalanches, bark beetle infestations, tree mortality and wildfires.

Although the unincorporated areas of Placer County reduced their GHG emissions by 16% between 2005-2015 and have met the state’s 2020 GHG emission goals, without more action GHG emissions in Placer County are forecast to increase 87% by 2050. It is critically important that we continue to do our part to reduce carbon emissions to help keep Placer County’s environment healthy.

For many years Placer County has successfully implemented policies to reduce GHG emissions and advance sustainability, including: mPower, solar power incentive programs, transportation demand management, the Placer County Government Center master plan, Placer County building retrofits, solid waste disposal initiatives, the One Big Bin recycling system, and zero emission transit buses.

Other successful GHG reduction-related county programs include offering free rides on Tahoe Truckee Area Regional Transit in eastern Placer County, which has increased ridership by 32% in just the first few months of the program; as well as the installation of solar panel carports at six county buildings, which will save the county $5 million and reduce carbon emissions equivalent to removing more than 900 vehicles from the road for over 20 years.

The adoption of the Placer County Sustainability Plan is one more step toward doing our part to ensure that Placer County’s resources, beauty and opportunities continue to flourish for future generations.

To learn more about the Placer County Sustainability Plan, please visit www.placer.ca.gov/sustainplacer.

Warm Regards,

Supervisor Jim Holmes
           

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