The city of El Paso has submitted its latest version of its Regional Climate Action Plan (CAP) to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for approval. The plan outlines the city’s objectives to halve greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030 and achieve net-zero GHG emissions by 2050.
Current conditions indicate that climate-change driven disasters are only going to increase in severity in the coming decades, directly threatening critical infrastructure, facilities and services and endangering communities. The city identified the transportation infrastructure, utilities, natural resources and socially vulnerable communities are at the highest risk for significant climate change impacts by 2050.
To achieve net-zero emissions within the next 25 years, the CAP outlines 10 climate measures with a total of 53 individual actions to mitigate hazards and promote ecosystem and public wellbeing. The broad measures include:
- Increase energy efficiency and decarbonize buildings.
- Transition to zero-emission vehicles.
- Install renewable energy systems.
- Implement sustainable food systems and waste management practices.
- Promote walking, biking and riding transit.
- Monitor and improve air quality.
- Implement and oversee climate actions.
- Cool communities, protect public health and increase native ecosystems.
- Reinforce drought resilience and conserve water.
- Reduce flood risk.
Among the first actions El Paso will undertake to promote energy efficiency and decarbonization, the city will create or modify a rebate program to facilitate energy efficiency and electrification. Additionally, officials will develop a Building Energy Performance Standard for commercial buildings and partner with industries to reduce industrial activity-related emissions. These actions will be executed on top of plans to enhance or create a weatherization program, increase public building energy efficiency and create a data center policy that takes environmental, community and economic development considerations in mind.
As El Paso continues its efforts to transition its vehicle fleet to clean-energy models, the plan outlines a series of actions to develop infrastructure and policy to support zero-emission vehicles. These include creating electric vehicle (EV) charging policies for new buildings, organizing zero-emission and hybrid vehicle ride-and-drive events and transitional municipal fleets to zero-emission vehicles. Additional work will revolve around developing alternative fuel hubs, freight corridors and installing public EV charging stations.
Renewable energy systems are slated to play a major role in the city’s pollutant reformation efforts, starting with partner with utilities and startups to increase geothermal energy use. The city anticipates installing solar panels on public buildings and shade structures to provide alternative energy sources and shade structures. Additional work will include sourcing renewable energy through contracts or subscriptions, implementing solar-ready policies for new buildings and incentivizing battery storage installations.
To combat excessive waste and ensure the city sustainably produces ample food, El Paso will reform recycling practice, implement composting measures for food and yard waste, develop local food hubs, create a construction and demolition waste diversion ordinance and potentially establish reuse or recycling facilities. The city will also develop local food hubs and use water-based growing systems to grow food without soil, further promoting sustainable food production. Finally, El Paso will work toward capturing and upgrading biogas for use as an energy resource.
Reducing public reliance on personal vehicles will be a major step in achieving net-zero emissions. As the city ramps up efforts to promote walking, biking and public transit use, officials will work to expand existing micromobility systems for bikes and scooters, research ways to provide free public transit and build transit-oriented developments.
Additional work will revolve around expanding microtransit projects to transport people from residences to transit stops. The city will implement car-free hours to promote pedestrian mobility and safety, update the zoning code to remove parking minimums and improve the frequency and quality of transit services.
Air quality is one of the most prominent indicators of an excessively polluted ecosystem. To address these issues, El Paso will align infrastructure, policy and operations to reduce truck idling alongside expanded and improved truck parking areas at El Paso Ysleta Port of Entry. In addition, the city will install air quality monitoring systems at international bridges, disproportionately impacted communities and reduce wait times at international bridges.
Actions taken to directly combat climate change will start with the establishment of green revolving loan funds designed to support sustainability projects in buildings. The city will begin managing operations and decision-making from a climate and sustainability perspective. Additional funding through a mini-grant program will support neighborhood-level climate action.
As climate change continues to heat up urban centers, the city will increase tree canopy and shading to mitigate heat, targeting homes, community centers and neighborhoods. City officials will develop and adopt building codes and standards for heat- and climate-resilience. Future designs for transportation infrastructure will lean more heavily on using cool and reflective surfaces.
With underserved communities anticipated to be the most vulnerable to climate impacts, the city will prioritize the development of multi-hazard resilience hubs to alleviate neighborhood hazards. Plans also include implementing carbon sequestration projects and creating a multi-lingual emergency communications response framework with dedicated resources.
The El Paso City Council will ensure that water resources are adequately protected, ensuring all residents have access to safe, potable water for decades to come. These efforts will mitigate drought impacts by expanding wetlands and parks to support groundwater recharge, use of recycle water and greywater for irrigation and executing runoff capture projects. The city will merge renewable energy systems such as solar power with water capture systems to generate potable water. Finally, the plan outlines actions to educate, incentivize and support regional growers to transition to climate-friendly farming practices.
The final measure featured in the CAP centers on reducing flood risk. Among the actions outlined in the document, El Paso will deploy green infrastructure and reduce impermeable surfaces throughout the city. Additional plans will involve acquiring land in the 100-year floodplain and stabilizing arroyos in steep locations and in areas with evidence of erosion.
Photo by Thomas Vogt, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, from Wikimedia Commons
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