Pasadena 100 to Present Report to City Council as ‘Thank You Card’

An organizer with a group that successfully pushed the City Council to sign a climate control resolution says the group will present the City Council with a unique thank you card on Monday. 

In January, the City Council passed a carbon free resolution that sets a policy goal to reduce GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 in advance of the 2045 recommended target outlined in CARB’s (California Air Resources Board) 2022 Scoping Plan.

Members of Pasadena 100 will present a copy of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change report for 2023. 

“The thirty-six-page executive summary affirms the direction unanimously approved by our city to take the bold, necessary steps toward a carbon-free future for electrical power,” according to Carl Selkin, a member of the group who also serves on the PWP Stakeholder Technical Advisory Group.

“Choosing to plan is not the same thing as choosing a plan. And implementing that plan is the third critical step,” Selkin said in a guest opinion piece in Pasadena Now. “The process to create a menu of plans from which to choose is now underway. We need to make the right choices so that we don’t short circuit our contribution to a livable future for generations to come.”

Selkin said the The IPCC report is a reminder that increasing climate threats loom on the horizon. The time to act is today.

“I am particularly concerned that conservation goals (in megawats) may not  be clearly set in the scenarios used to determine the Integrated Resource Plan for power,” Selkin told Pasadena Now. 

“Could conservation make the difference between a plan that works and one that does not pencil out?  From my point of view, the best way to promote voluntary and effective conservation and complementary storage is through rate structures that vary by time of day/season/user type [e.g. household, commercial, government, essential-emergency].” 

In March 2018, the city adopted a Climate Action Plan (CAP) based on the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 that focuses on five specific GHG reduction strategies namely, Energy Efficiency and Conservation, Sustainable Mobility and Land Use, Solid Waste Reduction, Water Conservation and Urban Greening. 

In January, the City said it was finalizing its first comprehensive GHG Emissions Inventory that evaluates actual and forecasted emissions to gauge the effectiveness of the plan. 

Over the years, the city “made significant progress on CAP goals including the commitment to phase out all fossil fuel generating resources, acceleration of electric vehicle adoption in Pasadena, ordinances that encourage clean power technology in buildings and community maintenance practices, prohibition of polystyrene food packaging and drought mitigation policies,” according to Pasadena Water and Power’s report released in January.