Shoreline presents 2024 Climate Action Plan year‑in‑review; staff touts programs as tree canopy and waste challenges draw scrutiny

City sustainability staff presented the Shoreline Climate Action Plan 2024 year‑in‑review at the May 5, 2025 council meeting, outlining targets, indicators and programs and answering council questions about measurement, funding and tree canopy tracking.

Paige Shine, the city’s sustainability manager, reminded the council that the Climate Action Plan adopted in December 2022 sets three broad goals: reduce greenhouse gas emissions 60% by 2030, reach net‑zero emissions by 2050, and restore ecosystems while boosting community resilience. The plan uses a 2019 baseline for its inventory and measures progress across five focus areas: transportation and mobility; buildings and energy; zero waste; ecosystems and sequestration; and community resilience.

Shine reported several data points staff said show progress since 2019: a roughly 23% decline in overall natural gas usage in Shoreline between 2019 and 2024; about a 13% decrease in energy consumption (approaching a 15% target); and a per‑household residential waste reduction of about 0.3 pounds per day. Shine also said staff had started or completed 67 of the 90 actions in the plan, an increase of 15 actions compared with 2023. The Climate Action Team meets bimonthly and the Environmental Sustainability team now includes three full‑time staff after a recent budgeted hire.

Shine highlighted three 2024 initiatives: Energize Shoreline, a pilot providing educational workshops and heat‑pump incentives; the Lime scooter and bike‑share program (about 200 e‑scooters and 50 bikes in Shoreline); and the opening of light rail service last year, which staff said should reduce driving. She also said staff are pursuing incentives for e‑bikes, energy audits for city facilities and ongoing urban forestry work.

Councilmembers and members of the public questioned several measures. Councilmember Moskowitz asked how the city prioritizes actions; staff said a list of 35 high‑priority actions guides work and that priorities were developed during the plan process. On waste, staff said single‑family access to composting is high where available but multifamily composting remains a challenge: the multifamily diversion rate declined from 25% in 2019 to 22% in 2024, and staff described the multifamily sector as requiring ongoing outreach and coordination with haulers.

Public comment and several council questions focused heavily on trees. Kathleen Russell, speaking for Safe Shoreline Trees, said that since 2019 more than 4,511 “significant” trees have been removed or are scheduled for removal and urged the city to prioritize plantings in census blocks with lower canopy such as Richmond Highlands, Echo Lake, North City, Meridian Park and Briarcrest. Russell told the council that some recent infill residential projects and the Dayton Avenue North sidewalk project will remove dozens of large conifers.

Staff responded that the city uses the Tree Equity Score (by census block) for tree‑equity planning but noted census block geography does not always align perfectly with neighborhood boundaries; Shine said the city will work with its urban forestry team to provide clearer tracking. Mary Reedy, Parks Director, told council the $1,000,000 urban forestry grant routed through a River Network pass‑through remained active and that the city has been front‑loading planned inventory and planting work in case future federal funding availability changes.

Councilmembers also pressed staff on more frequent canopy measurement, better tracking of trees removed versus trees planted (including public, private and commercial removal/planting), and stronger enforcement or outreach around the organics/composting rules. Several council members urged staff to push haulers and regional partners to improve diversion and reduce contamination.

Shine and staff said many targets and indicators use the 2019 baseline, that staff will continue to refine metrics (particularly for community resilience), and that federal funding timelines remain a variable. Council discussion included requests for staff to return with more granular data on multifamily diversion, tree counts and urban forestry progress.