Carlsbad council approves a pared-back climate plan but adds city-owned solar carports; TDM review ordered

The Carlsbad City Council on Nov. 12 adopted a version of the city's updated Climate Action Plan that excludes three proposed REACH-code measures but directs staff to implement solar carports with battery backup on city-owned parking lots and to evaluate the city's Transportation Demand Management (TDM) thresholds.

Council heard more than two dozen public speakers during a nearly three-hour public hearing that included environmental advocates pressing for stronger electrification measures and representatives of business and building-industry groups warning that some REACH-code provisions could be costly or legally risky. Staff's senior program manager Katie Hentrich reviewed four adoption options that ranged from meeting the state 2045 reduction target to adopting the full draft CAP (which would exceed targets by roughly 6,000 metric tons CO2e). The council's approved motion followed a compromise approach: adopt Option 1 (the plan excluding three specific REACH measures) and add a municipal solar-carport program for city lots.

Nut graf: The decision balances competing priorities that surfaced repeatedly in public comment: environmental advocates asked the city to keep building-electrification measures…