What's New

Progress on Climate Protection

Last updated: October 20, 2008

 

Municipal Plan

1. A Climate Action Team (PDF, 90 KB) was formed in January 2008. It includes representatives from a number of City departments. The team working to develop recommendations for reducing greenhouse gas emissions within their departments and City wide.
2. The City of Austin is compiling a greenhouse gas inventory for all City departments. This inventory will provide useful framework to measure the City's carbon footprint and for assessment of the relative impact of various reduction measures. Tracking greenhouse gas emissions will allow the City to quantitatively monitor progress on achieving our greenhouse gas reductions goals.
3. City of Austin departments are working with the Austin Climate Protection team to quantify the greenhouse gas reduction impact of current and future programs.

Utility Plan

1. Austin Energy launches a Public Participation Process to determine future energy generation. Reducing Austin Energy’s carbon footprint through developing a sustainable energy portfolio is one piece of the Austin Climate Protection Program. In addition to this Public Participation Process, a stakeholder group representing diverse community interests will be convened to evaluate the magnitude of local impacts from climate change and develop greenhouse gas reduction measures to be implemented throughout the community.
2. Austin Energy continues to work in a variety of areas to achieve the goals set by the Austin Climate Protection Plan. These efforts include: the continuation of current residential and commercial energy efficiency programs, demand side management programs and efficiency improvements for power generation and transmission.

Homes and Buildings

1. The Energy Efficiency Upgrades Task Force has just released its final report. The Task Force began meeting at the beginning of the year to identify and recommend City Code revisions to implement cost effective energy efficiency retrofits and upgrades of Austin homes and buildings. A complete description of the recommendations can be found in their Final Report to City Council (PDF, 151 KB). You can also view a summary of the Task Force recommendations as presented to the Resource Management Commission (PDF, 33 KB) on October 21, 2008.
2. A program focused on upgrading the efficiency of new single-family homes demonstrates that increasing efficiency and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions can be cost effective. When the increased cost of building an energy efficient home is rolled into a 30 year mortgage the reduction in energy costs is greater than the increased mortgage payments.

Community Plan

1. The framework for a community coordinating committee is being created. This team will work to develop recommendations for community wide greenhouse gas reduction strategies.
2. The Climate Protection Team will collaborate with this committee to gather data and creat a preliminary greenhouse gas inventory for the Austin community.

"Go Neutral" Plan

1. The City of Austin is finalizing a request for proposals for development of an Austin specific carbon footprint calculator. The calculator will be coming soon to this website.
2. The City's Climate Protection Team is also in the process of developing a Climate Leaders program to recognize citizens and businesses who take a leadership role in reducing emissions.
   
   Read more about the progress of both these projects and many others listed above in the Austin Climate Protection Plan and Action Items Report to Austin City Council (PDF, 154 KB).

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