Seattle takes bold action on climate change

SEATTLE -- The Seattle City Council voted unanimously to adopt Seattle's Climate Action Plan on Monday.

The Climate Action Plan is recommended action to be taken to meet the city's goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

The plan is the result of a three-year collaborative effort between the city and community to create a blueprint for a prosperous and climate-friendly city.

"With this bold plan to reduce our carbon emissions now in place, we must now get to work on implementing the actions called for in the plan," said City Councilman Mike O'Brien.

"In the Energy & Environment Committee, we will begin exploring how to make energy use more visible to consumers and developing the tools we need to improve Seattle's home and building energy performance," said O'Brien.

The Climate Action Plan includes specific short- and long-term actions Seattle needs to meet its ambitious goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

It focuses on on three sectors where the city of Seattle can have the greatest influence in reducing carbon emissions: transportation and land use, building energy and solid waste.

The plan also includes a section outlining how Seattle should prepare for the impacts of climate disruption it expects to occur, as well as a section on actions that individuals can take to reduce emissions through purchasing decisions.