The city aims to cut emissions right away.
Author: Megan Webber
The city of Aspen has a new plan called the Aspen Sustainability Action Plan to help reach a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 63.4% by 2030 and 100% by 2050.
The plan was presented to the Aspen City Council on Monday and based on feedback that the council gave in budget discussions in October. In an Oct. 4 work session, the council asked for more funding to be directed toward climate action and suppod additional steps to further address greenhouse gas emissions.
“We’re already on a path to reduce emissions, but with current trends in policy, we will not reach our climate goals,” said Tim Karfs, sustainability programs administrator. “So the longer we wait will lead to fewer opportunities for future councils and future generations to act on this climate problem, and getting ahead of business-as-usual projections will require immediate and aggressive action now.”
The plan, known as ASAP, will guide Aspen’s climate work for the next five to seven years, using 2017 as a baseline to help the city reach its goals. The ASAP is an update on the city’s 2017 Climate Action Plan.
ASAP contains five sectors where the city will focus on addressing emissions reductions: energy supply, buildings, vehicles and transportation, waste, and aviation and the airport. Aspen’s largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions is its built environment, which produces 57% of the community’s emissions, sustainability manager Tessa Schreiner noted.