HomeMy WebLinkAboutClimate Action Subcommittee Report 12 March 2025 1
Meeting Report:
Standing Subcommittee
on Climate Action
SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING DATE: 12 March 2025 SUBMITTED BY: Roy Clark, Chair
SUBCOMMITTEE NAME: Standing Subcommittee on Climate Action DATE SUBMITTED: 13 March 2025
SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBERS: Roy Clark (P), Kathy Cohn (N),
Bernard Rottner (P), P = Present, N = Not Present
NEXT SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING: 9 April
2025
PRESENTED FOR COMMISSION MEETING DATE: 18 March 2025
Subcommittee Goal: Develop and recommend policies and plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the City of
Palm Springs by 40% from 1990 levels by 2030. (Reference: Palm Springs Climate Action Roadmap, dated 28 October
2021) and develop and recommend policies and plans to assist Palm Springs residents adapt to ongoing climate change.
Summary of meeting
There were no public comments. The Palm Springs Post was on Zoom.
Staff Report (Director McCloy)
• Preparations are being made for Earth Month events. There will be a festival on April 26 for Earth Day and Arbor
Day.
• Sustainability Specialist Wheeler is out of the office for two weeks,
• The tree ordinance is moving forward. It will be presented to the Climate Action Subcommittee in April
New Business
• Energy Efficient Upgrade Ordinance
• The update of the CA state model ordinance is in progress. PS Sustainability staff will review the draft
and determine what changes should be made to the PS ordinance.
• PS Sustainability staff will clarify how AQMD rules relating to water heaters (i.e., phasing out natural gas
water heaters) relate to the PS ordinance. The PS ordinance doesn’t specify fuel type. The City doesn’t
have legal authority to specify fuel type.
• Heat and Shade Study
• Staff are working on an RFP for potential consultants to address the following , at minimum:
▪ Shade equity analysis
▪ Hot spots
▪ Community engagement
▪ Field data collection
▪ Recommendations
▪ The focus will be on transportation systems.
• Greenhouse Gas Reduction
• Preliminary data on GHG levels have been received.
• Actuals for 2023 and projections for 2030 and 2045 were provided.
• Data were provided by CVAG, which utilized a national consultant ICF and Federal funding.
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▪ The effort covered Riverside and San Bernadino Counties.
▪ Data for Riverside County was broken down by the nine cities.
• Line items for sequestration from natural lands were provided.
Recommendations/Requests to Subcommittee
Continue to prioritize presentations to the subcommittee on organizations and on-going activities, internal and external to
the City
Airport expansion (Ref: Jan 25, 2024, City Council Meeting) (Airport General Manager)
Convention Center
Bicycle routes (Sustainability Specialist Wheeler and Engineering)
City fleet electrification (Director McCloy)
Sustainable transportation planning and EV charging
Parks Master Plan
New, as of March 13, 2024:
Energy-efficient construction, include LEED
Training to do energy audits, such as interface with the College of the Desert
Sustainability education program
Vehicle maintenance program with the College of the Desert
New as of May 8:
Commissioner Walker requested that the Office Sustainability look into potential community change grants under
the Inflation Reduction Act
Request To Commission Read this report and tell Subcommittee what you would like discussed
in more detail in Commission meeting
Request To Office of Sustainability Expand outreach and education to City Council, City staff, and other
commissions; meeting notices and written messaging; integrate
sustainability with other organizations
Support new activities:
Perform GHG inventory, 2020 update and new 2022 (CVAG and
PlaceWorks)
Identify the number of houses in the City with solar panels
Identify the number of electric vehicles registered in the City by
recent year
Survey how EV drivers in the City charge their vehicles
Investigate EV rideshare programs to serve disadvantaged areas
and Navigation Center
Potential Fiscal Impact/Request Unknown
Could be a lot of money required in the long term to implement
strategic activities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions