San Diego County released a draft climate plan on Thursday, pledging to dramatically reduce greenhouse-gas emission by limiting backcountry sprawl and using at least 90 percent renewable energy by 2030.

The proposed blueprint for fighting global warming comes five years after the San Diego chapter of the Sierra Club first sued the county over an earlier version of the plan. Lawyers for the environment group argued in court that the county’s original vision lacked specificity on how it would realize deep cuts in climate-warming emissions.

County officials said Thursday that they have dramatically overhauled their Climate Action Plan in response to a 2015 court order in the Sierra Club’s favor.

“It’s a new document,” said Rami Talleh, deputy director of planning and development services for the County of San Diego. “We started from scratch. We reached out to the public and came up with a different approach.”


The local chapter of the Sierra Club decline to comment for this story. An attorney for the group said they were still reviewing the draft document.

Nicole Capretz, executive director of the San Diego-based Climate Action Campaign, praised the county’s new draft but had several reservations. Specifically, she questioned a proposal to allow developers to pay into a carbon-offset fund run by the county that would help new projects meet requirements under the climate plan.

“The road map for achieving the targets, which are on point, is a huge improvement, and agreeing to get to 90 percent green energy is a step in the right direction,” she said. “My criticism is that they’re barely touching land use and transportation and instead allowing developers to pay their way out of greenhouse-gas emissions.”

Transportation is the county’s largest source of greenhouse gases, making up roughly 45 percent of the unincorporated territory’s carbon footprint. It’s followed by energy use, which accounts for 24 percent of emissions. Solid waste, natural gas and agriculture make up the remaining 25 percent.


The county has proposed cuts that local officials said closely mirror that the state targets of reducing emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and 40 percent below that by 2030. The county uses a 2014 benchmark, calling for a 2 percent drop by 2020 and 40 percent by 2030.

“This is a blueprint that has clear targets with reduction measure that demonstrate how we’ll meet the state targets,” said Talleh with the county. “We’re confident in our document.”

About 50 percent of the county’s greenhouse-gases reductions through 2030 will come from state legislative actions, such as fuel and building energy efficiency standards, as well as incentive programs for the adoption of electric vehicles.

The most aggressive local strategy to cut emissions calls for using 90 percent renewable energy by 2030. Greening up the county’s electrical grid, as well as increasing energy efficiency in buildings, would account for 32 percent of overall emissions reductions.


The city of San Diego made headlines in 2015 when it became the largest city in the country to pledge to use 100 percent renewable energy by 2035. More than 30 cities have made similar pledges, with dozens more in the process. Burlington, Vt., and Aspen, Colo., already buy exclusively green energy on behalf of their residents.

For the county to get there, the report calls for exploring several options, including a partnership with San Diego Gas & Electric or a government-run energy program called community choice aggregation.

The county recently rejected a proposal to study the potential financial benefits of community choice, which gives elected officials the power to buy and sell electricity to ratepayers in their jurisdiction. Under the program, a traditional utility still maintains the poles and wires that deliver energy.

Several cities in the region are currently considering the program, including Solana Beach, the city of San Diego, Carlsbad, Del Mar and Encinitas.


The county proposal also calls for slashing climate pollution from cars and trucks, which would account for 13 percent of emissions cuts. The document calls for, among other things, limiting backcountry sprawl, reducing parking in new commercial developments, encouraging the adoption of cleaner vehicles and stripping new bike lanes.

The county’s draft plan will circulate for comment during the next 45 days. A final document is expected to be before the Board of Supervisors early next year.


Twitter: @jemersmith

Phone: (619) 293-2234

Email: joshua.smith@sduniontribune.com