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Tiburon updates climate action plan; council hears implementation progress and upcoming sea‑level planning grant
Summary
Tiburon’s sustainability coordinator reported progress on the town’s 2022 Climate Action Plan, outlining accomplishments on electric vehicles, green building, waste reduction and outreach and announcing a likely state grant for shoreline adaptation planning.
Grace Ledwith, Tiburon’s sustainability coordinator, told the Town Council on May 21 that the town’s Climate Action Plan (CAP), adopted in 2022, remains the framework the town is using to try to meet its 2030 target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions 50% below 1990 levels.
Ledwith said recent accomplishments include adoption of the countywide electric vehicle acceleration strategy, a new fleet transition award from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, municipal procurement of 100% renewable electricity through Marin Clean Energy’s deep green product, LED streetlight conversion and outreach and pilot programs for waste reduction and reuse. She said town hall and the police station already use 100% renewable energy and that the town won a Beacon award for municipal energy savings.
The CAP is organized in seven sectors and Ledwith said transportation (about 53% of community emissions in the town’s inventory) and buildings (about 38%) are the largest local sources. She cautioned that the town’s latest community inventory data are dated (2022) while staff work to secure updated energy data from PG&E and the Marin Climate and Energy Partnership. Ledwith said Tiburon’s emissions are now roughly 22% below 1990 levels but that deeper action will be needed to reach 2030, particularly to reduce single‑occupancy vehicle travel and to accelerate building electrification and appliance replacement.
Council members and residents asked for details about how the inventory is calculated and whether local programs such as Marin Clean Energy participation and “time‑of‑sale” energy audits would change the town’s trajectory. Ledwith recommended energy audits, regional EV charging planning and implementing the county electrification roadmap and local green building reach codes being developed for the 2025 code cycle. She said any state or federal statutes (and recent court decisions she referenced) shape what local reach codes can require.
Several public commentators — including doctors and members of Tiburon Climate Action Committee — urged the council to keep pushing on home electrification, municipal electrification of fleets and school bus electrification and to fund education for residents and contractors. Ledwith reported that the town had been recommended for phase 1 funding by the Ocean Protection Council for a sea‑level rise adaptation planning grant to create a shoreline vulnerability assessment and adaptation plan (a project that, if formally funded in July, would begin in October and run about two years).
The council did not take formal action on the CAP itself at the meeting; Ledwith said staff will continue implementation and return with updates. Council members commended staff and volunteers and asked that updated inventory data be provided as soon as PG&E and regional partners can supply it.
Residents and council members asked where the town’s efforts fit regionally. Ledwith said the town coordinates through the Marin Climate and Energy Partnership, the Transportation Authority of Marin (TAM) and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and works to align local reach codes, incentive programs and outreach across Marin.
