Lake Forest Park advisory team reviews greenhouse‑gas inventory, narrows vehicle‑miles‑traveled targets

Lake Forest Park’s Climate Policy Advisory Team on April 15 reviewed a draft greenhouse‑gas inventory and related vehicle‑miles‑traveled analysis, and discussed where the city’s climate policies could reduce emissions from transportation and buildings. The team’s consultants presented results, answered technical questions and asked members for written feedback by April 18.

The consultants said the community inventory shows about 175,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide across the inventory years analyzed (including 2019 and 2023). “Transportation was the highest emitter across all 3 inventory years, followed by emissions from buildings being the second largest emitter,” a project presenter said. On the municipal side, the consultants reported roughly 247 metric tons of CO2 for city operations in 2023 and said the city fleet accounted for about 71% of those municipal emissions.

Why it matters: state guidance requires cities to set per‑capita VMT reduction targets and to quantify how proposed policies move the needle. Local policymakers and staff will use the…