Vancouver focuses on heat, wildfire smoke as it updates climate action plan
Vancouver officials are focusing on ways to protect residents from heat, wildfire smoke and other effects of climate change as they update the city's ambitious climate action plan.
The Climate Action Framework, first adopted in 2022, outlined how the city would reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and reach carbon neutrality by 2040.
Since then, there has been a palpable shift in how locals think about climate change, said Rebecca Small, the city's climate action lead.
"Some of the concerns that have risen to the top are more related to protection from the impacts of climate change that we're feeling in our city - the very hot summer days and severe winter storms, the wildfire smoke," Small said. "People are now experiencing those on a firsthand level."
Federal data backs these concerns. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Pacific Northwest recently recorded increasing numbers of floods, heat waves, cold snaps, high winds, droughts and extreme precipitation.
Small said city staff heard from residents worried about climate change impacts during public outreach for the 20-year comprehensive plan city officials approved June 1.
"Our first Climate Action Framework touched on resilience, mitigation and climate protection, but really did have more of a focus on reducing greenhouse gases," Small said. "The one thing we heard in the comprehensive plan update and over the summer was about protecting citizens from climate change."
The Climate Action Framework includes 14 strategies to reach carbon neutrality and requires updates every four years.
In the plan's first four years, the city integrated climate goals into its plans, developed new policies, built staff capacity and launched a few pilot projects, Small told Vancouver Transportation and Mobility Commission members on June 2.
"The next phase of this work is to put these (actions) into motion and see the results on our streets and in our neighborhoods," Small said.
New actions
Vancouver officials still hope to reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2030 and be carbon neutral by 2040, Small said.
To get there, the city may beef up bicycle parking, lower speed limits, purchase low-carbon concrete for capital projects, establish spaces that prioritize pedestrians and build climate corridors with upgraded tree canopies to shade pedestrians and bicyclists, Small said.
Transportation commissioners weighed in with their own ideas during their June 2 meeting.
Commissioner Jay Housgard asked if Vancouver has considered a bike-share program similar to the ones found in Portland, Seattle and other cities.
"We don't have an official decision at the city level, but it has come up from time to time," Small replied. "Having direction from the community on how they feel about it might influence how we move it forward."
Housgard said he recently rented a bicycle through a bike-share program in New York City and found it to be a convenient and relatively safe way to get around the city.
"It's important for the city to invest in bike infrastructure across all areas ... and to find ways to make some of these programs more affordable," Housgard said.
Commissioner Ken Williams said he knows many families drive short distances to drop their children off at Vancouver elementary and middle schools. He urged city staff to look into "walking bus" and "bike bus" programs that help students safely walk or bike to school. Williams also advocated for lower speed limits on city streets.
Kate Drennan, the city's principal transportation planner, said the city may soon lower the speed limit to 20 mph on city streets now marked 25 mph, but will need approval from the city council.
Small said lowering speed limits, even by 5 mph, would reduce carbon emissions and create a safer environment for pedestrians and cyclists.
Federal funding changes
Small said the funding landscape has changed dramatically under the Trump administration.
"Climate-specific grant funding that was available a couple years ago has been drastically reduced," she said.
Gone are the tax credits for electric vehicles and for home solar projects meant to lower reliance on increasingly expensive fossil fuels.
"We just don't have the same possibilities that we had before," Small said. "We have to make up for that on a local level."
Washington state has funneled money raised by the state's Climate Commitment Act into local climate projects, Small said, including at least $100,000 that came to the city of Vancouver.
"So we have state support where we may have lost some of those federal resources," Small said.
Public outreach
City staff will soon gather public feedback for its first Climate Action Framework update.
The city's climate plan website includes a survey and the Vancouver City Council's upcoming June 22 community forum will focus on climate issues.
Small said staff will also gather public input during the Vancouver Arts & Music Festival, Pollinator Festival, Music in the Park and other summertime events.
City officials will conduct concentrated outreach in Vancouver neighborhoods that tend to be most impacted by climate change.
"We want to build on the outreach the comprehensive plan did in Fruit Valley and Fourth Plain ... in areas of the city experiencing extreme heat pockets and more susceptibility to flooding," Small said. "And then we will expand to other impacted neighborhoods."
Staff plan to bring the proposed updates to the city council in December.
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