K. Community Role in CAP
Climate action will be most effective when community members take ownership and leadership in the quest to reach Net Zero 2050. When we say “the community,” we’re thinking about many stakeholders: residents, business-owners, building developers, government agencies, non-profit leaders, researchers, artists, and more. The residents of Washoe County know the pain points in our region; they also can name the biggest opportunities. That is why we did extensive outreach during the creation of this CAP, and that is why we will continue to seek feedback and leadership from the community as we implement the CAP.
When complete, the Community CAP will have a two-page project plan for every Action, including a section about how to get involved. Our public communications will invite community members to learn about and participate in climate action and, most importantly, to share and teach others. Necessarily, most actions will need full support or leadership from all relevant actors to be successful.
We know the Washoe County community cares about climate change. According to the 2023 Yale Climate Opinion survey, the percent of people who in Washoe County who believe global warming is happening (76%) is greater than the national average (72%) and is higher than any other county in Nevada. At least 56% of people think local officials should do more to address global warming. See Appendix 10 for full Yale Climate Opinion survey results for Washoe County. The results of our Sustainability team’s Clean Air survey, which was circulated broadly in the Washoe County community, showed that 76% of respondents said that Washoe County’s action to reduce GHG emissions was either “Very important” or “Somewhat important” to them.