City, county making good progress on reducing carbon emissions, in contrast to nation

Per-person greenhouse gas emissions in the county are down 41 percent since 1990

Carbon emissions in Multnomah County have fallen 41 percent on a per- capita basis since 1990, significantly outperforming national efforts to avert climate change, according to a new progress report on the city and county's joint Climate Action Plan.

The progress report, delivered Thursday to the Portland City Council, notes that carbon emissions have declined 21 percent overall in the county since 1990. (The city of Portland constitutes about 80 percent of the county, population-wise.)

"Even with this very good news, we should continue to be very, very humble, said Susan Anderson, director of the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. That's because the ultimate goal is to cut carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050, to forestall dramatic global warming. "It is difficult," Anderson said in a presentation to the City Council, "but we believe it is very doable."

During the same period the county's carbon emissions fell 21 percent from 1990 levels, they are up nationally by 7 percent.

And the county's gains came despite a 33 percent increase in the number of people living here since 1990, and a 24 percent increase in the number of local jobs.

"I think we've got local proof that prosperity and environmental quality do go hand in hand," Anderson said.

Two years ago, when the city and county adopted the latest 2015 version of their joint Climate Action Plan, they announced that total emissions in the county had dropped 14 percent below 1990 levels, and 32 percent on a per capita basis.

The new figures, which are based on the latest data from 2014, show continuing improvement.

Portland devised the world's first known climate action plan back in 1993, written by Anderson. Revised plans were written in 2001, 2009 and 2015, more recently in tandem with Multnomah County.

Last year, the city and county won an international award for their Climate Action Plan from the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, which is working to mobilize the world's largest cities to take the initiative to reduce carbon emissions. That group, much like city officials, argues that most of the carbon emissions in the world stem from activities in large metro areas, so they can lead the way, despite often-laggard national governments that choose to do little, or, in the case of the Trump administration, to actively reverse past progress.

Since the 2015 plan update of the city/county joint plan, there have been several notable developments locally to address climate change:

• The city bike share program, Biketown, launched.

• Portland City Council adopted a policy requiring homes for sale to have a Home Energy Score that details energy use, pointing the way to energy-efficiency projects.

• Big commercial buildings have started to track their energy use, under a new city requirement.

• Home demolitions in the city must be done more manually and carefully, to limit contamination from asbestos and lead, and to promote reuse of wood and other building materials.

• A 2016 state law requires electric utilities to provide half their energy from renewable sources by 2040, not counting hydro power.

• Multnomah County and the Portland Development Commission launched PropertyFit, a new financing program making it easier for commercial, multifamily and industrial building owners to invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy.

• Portland barred major increases in fossil fuel terminals in the city.

• Trimet completed the new MAX Orange Line and the Tilikum Crossing bridge, dubbed the largest car-fee bridge in the United States.

Of the 171 specific actions called-for in the 2015 Climate Action Plan, city and county officials say 83 percent of them are on track to completion by 2020. Another 5 percent have already been completed, and 5 percent are in progress but face some obstacles. Work hasn't started yet on 7 percent of the tasks.

Work hasn't begun on the goal of developing a sustainable consumption strategy, aimed at getting county residents to reduce emissions through the stuff they buy. But the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability will commence work on that this year, Anderson said.

Another undone project: establishing climate action metrics for Portland neighborhoods, which would score each for their energy use, bike commuting and other criteria. There have been initial discussions with Portland State University about taking on that task.

There are no signs yet of tackling another unmet goal: promoting the use of sustainably harvested wood.

Of course the big elephant in the room right now is the Trump administration, which is rolling back the clock on efforts to forestall climate change and actively promoting fossil fuel industries — whose products are the main cause of climate change.

Michael Armstrong, deputy director of the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, cited two Trump policies that could have the biggest impact locally to thwart the city and county's climate goals: ditching the Energy Star program that seeks to encourage more energy-efficient home appliances, and erasing Obama-era motor vehicle fuel efficiency standards.

Another progress report is scheduled to be done next year, and a revised Climate Action Plan is expected by 2020.

Steve Law can be reached at 971-204-7866 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or Twitter at https://twitter.com/SteveLawTrib

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