The City of Pleasanton’s Council approved 2019-2020 Work Plan includes preparation of an updated Climate Action Plan (CAP 2.0). The City’s original CAP was adopted in 2012 and outlines local actions to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, enhance environmental sustainability, and prepare for climate change.

The State of California considers GHG emissions and impacts of global warming to be a serious threat to the public health, environment, economic well-being, and natural resources of California. While climate change is a global issue, actions taken at the local level can collectively have a meaningful impact on reducing GHG emissions. Since Pleasanton’s original CAP was adopted, a multitude of strategies to monitor and address climate change have emerged. Further, the State has adopted legislation establishing GHG emission reduction targets.

Assembly Bill 32, Executive Order B-55-18, and Executive Order S-3-05, have established statewide GHG emission reduction targets of 40-percent below 1990 emission levels by 2030, carbon neutrality by 2045, and GHG emission reduction targets of 80-percent below 1990 emission levels by 2050.

As with Pleasanton’s 2012 Climate Action Plan, CAP 2.0 will continue to respond to the impacts of climate change through local actions that promote adaptation and resilience by significantly reducing the City’s greenhouse gas emissions. Accounting for new state laws, the policy focus for CAP 2.0 will be to close the gap between GHG emission reduction targets and Pleasanton’s projected emissions.