Issaquah presents 2024 greenhouse gas inventory; staff proposes light 2026 ICAP update and timeline
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Summary
City staff reported a 2% decline in community greenhouse-gas emissions since 2022 and a 4% drop in government-operations emissions, but warned the city remains short of its ICAP targets. Staff proposed a largely programmatic 2026 update focused on tying actions to targets, accelerating building electrification and transportation measures, and recommended initial review in PDE followed by a Committee-of-the-Whole review.
Issaquah sustainability staff presented the results of the city’s 2024 greenhouse gas inventory and outlined a proposed pathway for a 2026 update to the Issaquah Climate Action Plan (ICAP) on Feb. 3.
David Reedy, sustainability coordinator, said the city recorded a 2% decrease in community-wide emissions since 2022 and a 4% decrease in government operations emissions; reductions were driven mainly by lower natural-gas use in buildings and modest improvements in vehicle fuel efficiency and electric vehicle adoption. Reedy cautioned that electricity emissions increased in part because Puget Sound Energy’s grid had higher fossil-fuel intensity in recent years, and that the city remains above its 2007 baseline.
Staff also presented a wedge analysis that compares historic emissions and forecasts with ICAP reduction targets (50% by 2030; 95% and net-zero by 2050). Reedy said statewide, regional and federal programs could reduce Issaquah emissions by about 42% by 2030 under full implementation; however an emissions gap remains that the ICAP update must address, especially in harder-to-decarbonize sectors such as natural gas in buildings and medium-/heavy-duty transportation.
Sustainability manager Stacy Van McKinstry described proposed changes to the ICAP update process: strengthen connections between actions and metrics, incorporate wildlife and habitat resilience, improve reporting metrics, and consider moving to a 10-year plan with midpoint reviews to reduce staff update burden. She said the environmental board and other commissions have been engaged and that staff plan public touchpoints and a roughly 14-month update process to inform the 2027–2028 budget cycle.
Committee members sought clarification on methodology (weather normalization, data years) and asked whether the review should be handled by the PDE committee or as a Committee-of-the-Whole. Members generally favored an approach that brings major policy proposals to PDE for 1–2 meetings for vetting and then to a Committee-of-the-Whole before full council adoption; staff agreed to provide additional touchpoints and bring major policies back for committee review.
Next steps: staff will continue ICAP work with boards and commissions, present major policy proposals to PDE for initial deliberation, then bring the draft for broader Committee-of-the-Whole review and return to council for adoption later in 2026.
