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Metro unveils scope of regional Comprehensive Climate Action Plan; Washington County committee invited to review draft
Summary
Metro staff briefed the Washington County Coordinating Committee on a draft Comprehensive Climate Action Plan that focuses on transportation, building energy, and consumption (food, goods and services), with a draft planned for public release in July and opportunities for public comment in August.
Elliot Rose, senior transportation planner at Metro, briefed the Washington County Coordinating Committee on June 9 about the region’s Comprehensive Climate Action Plan, which Metro says is funded by an EPA grant awarded in 2023 and will cover transportation, building energy and the emissions embedded in goods and services.
"My name is Elliot Rose. I'm a senior transportation planner at Metro, and I'm here to talk with you about the comprehensive climate action plan," Rose said while introducing the scope and schedule for the draft plan. He described the plan as a regional effort to assemble existing local and state climate work, produce an emissions inventory and targets, and lay out a set of actions that local and regional agencies can implement to close the gap toward state climate goals.
Rose told the committee the draft plan is scheduled for public release over the summer, with a public online open house and comment opportunity planned for August and a final review of committee feedback in September before the plan is brought to Metro Council for action. He said Metro’s technical analysis shows the region’s largest emissions sources are buildings, transportation and food/goods/services, and that many state-level policies already reduce a portion of the gap to 2050 targets; the region will largely focus on measures that require changes in how people travel and how buildings are retrofitted or replaced.
Committee members asked about how local jurisdictions can coordinate on implementation. Merrick Bubinec, identifying himself from Tualatin, said his city is moving from planning to implementation and expects to hire a full-time staffer to run its climate action work; he asked how City of Tualatin staff can coordinate with Metro’s Climate Partners Forum. Rose replied that staff from Tualatin already appeared on the forum member list and he would follow up to connect directly with local staff.
Other committee members raised equity and cost concerns for building retrofits, including the effect of higher HVAC and installer costs, and asked whether Metro included economic development voices in its outreach. Rose said the planning process includes workforce development and partnership-based approaches for business engagement rather than strict local regulatory action.
Rose closed by asking for input on local priorities Metro should emphasize in the draft; he encouraged members to use the upcoming public comment period to provide feedback.
