Moscow leaders urge involvement in climate plan

To achieve the carbon neutrality goal set out in the City of Moscow’s Climate Action plan, the city itself can only do so much.

That is why city officials are hoping residents will do their part to help the community become carbon neutral by 2050.

“It’s an ‘all of us’ thing,” said Deputy City Supervisor Tyler Palmer during a Wednesday online public forum about the plan. “It’s something that we all need to get on board (with) and row in the same direction.”

Kelli Cooper, Moscow’s environmental education and sustainability specialist, said the city is trying to encourage people to change their habits, because that is something only community members can control.

“That’s something the resident has to choose to do to help us meet these goals,” she said. “So, the idea is to change those behaviors incrementally.”

The city is currently taking public comments from residents through March 26 and the city council will hold a workshop April 25 to discuss how to incorporate the plan into the city’s budget.

During Wednesday’s forum, Palmer and Cooper said the city will seek grants to fund programs intended to combat climate change along with money from its capital improvement program.

Palmer said grants are already critical to the city’s projects. For example, the city is working on installing a high-speed electric vehicle charging station in the Jackson Street parking lot that will be 100% grant funded.

He said all of the grants the city seeks come before the city council and that it might be a good idea for the city to keep track of its climate-specific grants on a webpage the public can view.

Community members are also urging the city to keep track of the plan’s progress on its website, and Environmental Services Manager Kyle Steele said Wednesday the city will add information to the end of the Climate Action Plan about how it will do this.

The plan can be found at ci.moscow.id.us/1002/Climate-Action-Plan.

Palmer said the plan is not written in stone and is instead intended to be a guiding document for the city council as it implements programs.

Among the highlights of the plan is the call to support Avista’s efforts to provide 100% clean electricity by 2045. Currently, 43% of Moscow’s electricity is generated from natural gas and coal, and Avista is working to replace that with renewable energy sources.

Moscow officials would also encourage people to take fewer vehicle trips, and the city would expand alternative transportation options like a bike-sharing or scooter-sharing program. The plan includes increasing Moscow’s electric vehicle charging stations.

As part of the plan, city experts would educate developers about the benefits of building all-electric buildings.

In addition to the community goal of being carbon-neutral by 2050, the city government has also set its own target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2035. The Climate Action Plan suggests the city can do this through methods like transitioning to an electric fleet of city vehicles, installing LED street lights and allowing city employees to work through telecommuting.

Cooper said the city council expressed the need for public outreach to educate the community about this plan. Cooper said the city will enlist the help of nonprofits to do this, and she is willing to work with schools as well.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.