Carlsbad Planning Commission reviews draft Climate Action Plan amid business concerns over costs

Carlsbad — City staff on Sept. 4 presented the draft update to Carlsbad’s Climate Action Plan to the Planning Commission and outlined proposed greenhouse gas targets, proposed measures and outreach to date, while a string of public commenters urged either faster action or more analysis of private‑sector costs.

Katie Hentrich, the city’s Public Works senior program manager and climate action plan administrator, told commissioners the update uses a 2016 inventory of 981,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent and a sector breakdown that attributes about 51% of emissions to on‑road transportation, 27% to electricity and 14% to natural gas. She said the draft sets targets to cut emissions 50% below the 2016 baseline by 2035 and 85% by 2045 and noted the update was developed to align with state policy and a mitigation measure in the city’s supplemental environmental impact report that calls for a CAP update by early 2025.

Hentrich said the draft includes roughly 25 potential measures, 37 primary actions and 69 supporting actions (detailed in exhibit 1 of the staff report). The measures cover water and wastewater, energy, waste diversion, transportation, off‑road equipment and carbon sequestration; staff described an example measure template that lists projected GHG reductions, implementation timing, responsible departments, monitoring benchmarks and equity considerations. She…