What are Gig Harbor’s biggest sources of greenhouse gases and how can we cut emissions?
The City of Gig Harbor has been taking steps to address the global climate crisis on a local level.
Earlier this year, they welcomed public input on a new Climate Action Plan (CAP) that will become part of the city’s strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build resiliency to climate change. After over a year of hard work, the City Council adopted the plan at their Oct. 9 meeting.
Gig Harbor’s CAP will serve as a framework to reduce community greenhouse gas emissions by 95% by 2050, with interim targets of 45% reduction by 2030 and 70% reduction by 2040. This goal is a baseline from a 2019 community greenhouse gas analysis. The analysis revealed that transportation is the largest source of emissions within our community, responsible for 51% of Gig Harbor’s emissions profile.
Buildings and energy were the second largest source (29%) and the remaining emissions were from land use (13%), refrigerant leakage (7%), and solid waste and wastewater (0.1%).
With this profile in mind, the CAP identifies six distinct, priority focus areas: crosscutting and municipal, buildings and energy, transportation, consumption and disposal, natural systems, and community resilience. The goal for each focus area includes targets and metrics as well as deliberate strategies and key actions to accomplish the goal.
As the draft document explains, many CAP mitigation actions will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also will provide co-benefits that promote climate equity and support vulnerable communities.
“Co-benefits of mitigation actions include improving air quality, expanding green space, promoting sustainable, affordable housing, and minimizing public health risks,” the plan says.
The CAP is meant to be a living document, updated over the years as action items are implemented.
Quick wins
During a City Council study session on Sept. 21, Roxanne Robles, a senior planner for the city, said: “It’s made with the best available science at the time.”
Climate science and research will continue to progress.
“When we look at it again in 10 to 20 years, it’s probably going to change,” Robles said.
She also noted that Gig Harbor’s Climate Action Plan is a city policy document that overlaps with city plans and is not a mandate for individual actions. Accomplishments won’t happen overnight. These are longer term policy goals (implemented on a 10-20 year timeline) that will take time.
However, a set of what Robles calls “quick wins” are outlined in the document. She defined these as items that can be accomplished within the next four years or that are already in motion.
These wins include: climate considerations in government; regional public infrastructure; bike infrastructure; curb management; promoting dense, mixed use and transit-oriented development; development of an urban forest master plan and tree planting incentive program; native vegetation protection; and carbon-sequestering natural resource protection.
In a phone conversation, Robles also shared that the community input from early 2023 made a difference in the outlined goals. The CAP planning team engaged the Gig Harbor community through a community-wide survey, community meeting/workshop, city staff implementation workshop, and presentations at public meetings with the Planning Commission, City Council, and the public.
Input showed that Gig Harbor residents are informed about climate change and motivated to take climate action. Concerns voiced included preparing for sea level rise impacts on city infrastructure, preventing loss of habitat and species, and impacts to Gig Harbor from wildfires, smoke, and plastic pollution.
Gig Harbor sea level rising
These concerns match up with recent data. As a coastal community, Gig Harbor has experienced a sea level rise of nearly eight inches over the last century, according to NOAA data in the Pierce County Resilience Plan. Up to 14 inches of additional sea level rise is projected by 2050.
The draft CAP notes: “This leaves Gig Harbor land vulnerable to coastal flooding, which can cause property and infrastructure damage and lead to potential displacement of residents and workers.”
Residents were most supportive of climate change education and incentives actions, and least supportive of mandates and regulations. It’s also worth noting that the CAP would not be implementing mandates or regulations — again, it’s not a mandate document or a public education document.
It specifically focuses on how the City of Gig Harbor can reduce its greenhouse gases, and it was developed through quantitative and qualitative approaches.
In line with feedback received earlier this year, community engagement will continue to be an integral part of accomplishing the CAP’s goals.
“I’m looking forward to engaging people with the plan as we implement it,” Robles said.
This engagement includes education and awareness opportunities, as well as climate partnerships and collaboration. The CAP is also an opportunity to develop incentives, like partnering with Peninsula Light Company to expand regional electric heat pump incentives to replace natural gas-powered furnaces and increase efficiency in city and residential buildings.
Will Gig Harbor’s Climate Action Plan solve the global climate crisis? No — and it’s not meant to. However, it addresses what we can do about the global climate crisis on a local level with bold action that’s specific to where we live. It demonstrates the city’s commitment to climate action, and it provides a road map to work toward a more resilient, sustainable, and equitable future for all residents of Gig Harbor.
The vision is to make Gig Harbor a regional leader in climate action.
Carly Vester has been writing an environmental column for The Peninsula Gateway since 2019. Her storytelling focuses on the intersection of people and the outdoors — from adventures across the west, to our environment and the rich history surrounding it. Her documentary films have screened internationally and her writing has been published locally and regionally.