Oceanside recruits residents for climate action plan update - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Oceanside recruits residents for climate action plan update - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Oceanside recruits residents for climate action plan update

Oceanside is updating its climate action plan, a local effort aimed at a global problem, and it’s asking for help.

Residents have until 6 p.m. Nov. 10 to answer 26 online questions that city planners will use to help determine ways to reduce or prevent things such as greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.

“The survey results will help us identify and outline emissions-reduction measures best suited to the Oceanside community and that will, in turn, result in meaningful emissions reduction,” said Russ Cunningham, Oceanside’s principal planner.

“The existing CAP (climate action plan) was adopted in 2019, as part of the first phase of the general plan update,” Cunningham said in an email. “We’re updating the CAP in conjunction with the second and culminating phase of this project, which we hope to bring forward for final adoption in the spring of next year.”

Growth forecasts show Oceanside will add as many as 17,000 homes and 21,000 jobs over the next 25 years.

The climate action plan update will show how the city can handle the expected growth and what can be done to reduce emissions and meet state environmental targets. California has set a goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045, which means releasing no more carbon dioxide into the air than is removed.

“To achieve our world-leading climate goals we have to accelerate projects that will power our homes with clean energy, safeguard our drinking water, build homes next to transit and jobs, rebuild our roads and transportation system, and protect communities from worsening extreme weather,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a speech last month.

“We established ambitious and necessary goals to reduce carbon emission and increase renewable energy,” state Sen. Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, said last year after the Legislature approved new climate measures.

“We provided the tools industry needs to capture and store carbon before it hits the atmosphere,” Atkins said. “And we invested in critical infrastructure programs that will keep us firmly planted on the path to a greener future, while simultaneously creating jobs that will support families across the state.”

Transportation — mostly private vehicle trips — accounts for more than half of all greenhouse gas emissions generated in the San Diego region.

“I know this is a lot to ask of many of our community members who rely primarily on their cars to get them to the places they need and want to go, but even a 10 to 15 percent reduction in regional VMT (vehicle miles traveled) would contribute significantly to emissions reduction,” Cunningham said.

Government and the private sector must help with that by offering better alternatives to driving, Cunningham said. People are more likely to use public transit when trains, buses and on-demand services are more frequent, convenient and affordable.

“We can’t expect folks to drive less if we don’t offer them other practical options,” he said.

Oceanside’s survey, which can be found online at onwardoceanside.com, asks 26 questions and is intended to be finished in 10 minutes.

“In addition to soliciting community input on local climate action, the survey also seeks to heighten awareness of the ways in which Oceanside households and businesses can better understand and manage their own carbon footprints,” Cunningham said.

“The survey results will help us identify and outline emissions reduction measures best suited to the Oceanside community and that will, in turn, result in meaningful emissions reduction,” he said.

More than 160 cities, counties and other agencies across California have adopted or are in the process of adopting climate action plans, according to the Institute for Local Government.

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