Thousand Oaks, CA
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Why is the City developing a Climate and Environmental Action Plan?
At the conclusion of the year-long Visioning 2064 process, the community chose development of a Climate Action Plan as one of the City’s top ten priorities. This goal was subsequently approved by the City Council.
“Goal 5: Continue commitment to being an environmental leader on topics such as climate change adaptation and reduction, zero waste, zero net energy, water use, and greenhouse gas reduction and develop a Climate Action Plan, including allocation of necessary resources.”
Click here to explore a storymap showcasing our communities carbon emissions and potential strategies. Listen to brief background explanations, view video presentations, read a narrative, or, jump to the public input section and share your ideas and preferences.
CEAP Meetings & Resource Links
What is a Climate and Environmental Action Plan?
A Climate and Environmental Action Plan (CEAP) is a long-range plan that outlines comprehensive strategies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and address other environmentally-related issues. Implementation of the CEAP GHG emission reduction strategies will provide co-benefits to the community by reducing air pollution, supporting local economic development, increasing local resilience, improving public health and quality of life.
Stakeholder Group
To aid CEAP development, twenty-two community stakeholders, representing a cross-section of the City’s residents and businesses, provided input and feedback on possible climate strategies in a series of monthly meetings beginning in January 2021. These meetings are online and open to the public.
City Council Direction – Jan 12, 2021 meeting
The Council adopted working greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets of 40 percent below 2010 levels by 2030 and 80 percent below 2010 levels by 2050, aligned with those of the State of California, to guide the development of the City’s Climate and Environmental Action Plan. The final recommendation will be incorporated into the Plan and subject to review and approval by City Council in late 2021.
Community Input to Develop the CEAP
An online survey asking the community to share their thoughts on how the City should address the challenges of climate change received 806 responses from city residents (see Attachment 3 of Staff Report). This summer the City will host a public workshop to solicit feedback on proposed strategies. The City will incorporate information from the stakeholder meetings, public workshop, and surveys to develop a plan that reflects the values and vision of the Thousand Oaks community.
How Can You Contribute?
You can contribute to the Climate and Environmental Action Plan update and do your part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the following ways:
- Stay informed about our process so that you can share your thoughts on potential CEAP strategies.
- Review Thousand Oaks GHG emissions and projections, and watch our presentation on the city's emissions.
- Calculate your greenhouse gas emissions and find ways to reduce them.Stay informed about actions underway by the City and State to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance resiliency, and contribute to a thriving community.
- Learn about local climate change impacts through Cal-Adapt, a web-based climate adaptation planning tool hosted by the State. Cal-Adapt allows the user to identify potential climate change risks in specific geographic areas throughout the state. Users can either query by location or click on an interactive map to explore what climate impacts are projected to occur in their area of interest.
What are the State of California’s GHG Reduction Targets?
- Reduce GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 - A target established by the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, also known as Assembly Bill (AB) 32;
- Reduce GHG emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 - A target established by Senate Bill (SB) 32.
- Reduce 80 percent below 1990 levels (Executive Order S-3-05, 2005);
- Achieve Carbon Neutrality by 2045 (Executive Order B-55-18).
City Actions
Sustainability Plan for Municipal Operations - On June 19, 2018, City Council adopted a Sustainability Plan for Municipal Operations, which established the foundation for environmentally-friendly, fiscally-responsible, and sustainably-minded City operations.
Clean Power Alliance (CPA) - In February 2019, Thousand Oaks' residential customers began receiving electricity service from CPA with service to the City's commercial and industrial customers starting in May 2019.
On August 27, 2019, City Council approved a Municipal Energy Action Plan to address energy use at City facilities and City operations, which established a goal for energy use reduction by 15 percent (relative to a 2010 baseline) over five years.
The Sustainability Strategic Plan (see chart below) shows the status and relationship between the components that will become part of the City’s CEAP. These include the Citywide Greenhouse Gas Inventory, Municipal GHG Inventory, Citywide Energy Action Plan, Hill Canyon Masterplan, EV Charging and Infrastructure Plan, California Data Collaborative water use analysis, and a new solid waste franchise agreement with enhanced recycling requirements including organics (food and landscape) recycling.
The CEAP is being developed in parallel with the City’s General Plan, which is the City’s overall policy and guiding document.