The County Board of Supervisors have unanimously voted to move San Diego County to zero carbon emissions by 2035. This makes it the largest county in the U.S. to commit to achieving this goal, according to the organization.
The vote comes after nearly 1,500 San Diegans signed a petition. Introduced by Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer and Vice Chair Nora Vargas, the vote directed staff to start creating a Regional Sustainability Plan to guide the County toward “zero carbon”.
“The fact is, climate crisis is an existential threat to our way of life in San Diego and around the globe,” the petition read. “We must face this historic challenge with historic ambitions to match. We must decarbonize San Diego County as quickly as possible.”
In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, climate mitigation measures and investments will bring other benefits such as improving public health and quality of life, reducing transportation costs, addressing the affordable housing crisis and providing thousands of jobs building the infrastructure. County staff will work with the University of California San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy to harness its global expertise in decarbonization strategies to develop the framework for the San Diego region.
San Diego is uniquely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, such as sea level rise, coastal erosion, heat, drought, flash flooding and wildfire. The Regional Sustainability Plan will be integrated with the Climate Action Plan to better align with jurisdictions throughout the region.
Travel & Hospitality reporter Mariel Concepcion can be reached at mconcepcion@sdbj.com or 858-634-4625.