St. Paul is wet and getting wetter. Annual precipitation has risen 7 inches since the 1950s and is expected to increase another 3 to 6 inches by mid-century.

Flooding cost the city $4 million in the past year alone.

Meanwhile, public health maps of the city’s most “climate vulnerable” areas — streets most likely to be impacted by heat, air pollution and the like — show the city’s poorest neighborhoods face some of the toughest challenges.

Moved by stark assessments of the city’s environmental exposure, the St. Paul City Council cast two votes this week intended to send a strong message to city departments, industry and everyday residents alike.

Russ Stark, the city’s chief resilience officer, on Wednesday presented an overview of the city’s wide-ranging new Climate Action and Resilience Plan, which lays out ambitious goals for cutting carbon emissions citywide and transitioning toward renewable energy wherever possible.

The 66-page plan, which was first released in draft form in April, commits the city to reducing carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and getting St. Paul carbon neutral by 2050.

Following a lengthy public hearing, the city council voted 7-0 to approve the document, which touches on everything from improving building insulation to reducing single-occupancy vehicle trips.

Among its recommendations, the plan calls for reducing or eliminating minimum parking requirements citywide, replacing them instead with parking maximums for most land-use types.

The plan also calls for boosting pedestrian, bike, public transit and electric vehicle alternatives to one-car, one-person travel.

To that end, the 2020 city budget includes $750,000 toward building out a network of electric vehicle charging stations hand-in-hand with Xcel Energy, the city of Minneapolis and the nonprofit car-sharing operation HOURCAR.

The city’s Climate Action plan highlights Xcel Energy’s efforts to cut carbon emissions by reducing reliance on fossil fuel plants and transitioning to renewables such as wind and solar power. The utility has proposed closing its last two coal-fired power plants by 2030.

“We have a plan before the (Minnesota Public Utilities Commission) to reduce our carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2030,” said James Pearson, an Xcel lobbyist.

Stark noted that the city’s main influence in terms of the environment are on emissions from buildings and transportation vehicles.

CRITICISM CONTINUES

The utility’s 156-page “Upper Midwest Integrated Resource Plan” spells out how Xcel intends to achieve those goals, but environmental advocates have said it does not go far enough.

In a separate action on Wednesday, the St. Paul City Council approved a resolution asking Xcel not to move forward with plans to build a natural gas plant in Becker, Minn., that relies on “fracking,” a process that involves boring into shale rock and injecting high-pressure water to extract gas or oil inside.

Ramsey County Public Health mapped climate vulnerabilities such as air pollution, heat islands and flood zones and found St. Paul’s poorest neighborhoods to be among the most exposed for rising waters and temperatures. pic.twitter.com/QZ5YkX8zua — Frederick Melo, Reporter (@FrederickMelo) December 18, 2019

Climate activists with St. Paul 350 and MN350 hailed the council’s decision, saying they had worked closely with Stark and members of the council to point out failings in Xcel’s draft Integrated Resource Plan. Among them, an early draft pointed to Xcel’s backing of a supposedly-thriving community solar garden in the Railroad Island neighborhood, which was never built.

Council members said discussions with Xcel continue, and appear promising.

“I do believe that St. Paul 350 in the last couple months has had some really productive conversations with Xcel,” said Council Member Jane Prince.

Several residents told the council there is plenty of difficult work ahead when it comes to implementation of carbon-reducing strategies, including convincing the St. Paul School District to install solar on school building rooftops.