Sustainability

H. Vision for 2050

Vision for 2050

Washoe County is a wonderful place to live, with access to outdoor beauty, a resilient economy, and a world-class quality of life. With strategic, concerted efforts, we can protect and enhance the best parts of living here, while reducing the pollution and other challenges to this quality of life. We have a chance to enjoy clean air, clean water, opportunities for meaningful work in a vibrant economy in a setting that nourishes and soothes us. The sooner we act, and the more aggressively we reduce emissions, the better chance we have to preserve these qualities to ensure a safe, secure, and healthy community into an uncertain future.

Some principles for this work:

• The time to act is now. As we have seen in recent years, climate impacts are already upon us, and evidence tells us they will continue to get worse. This CAP offers suggestions for action that can make a difference immediately. The longer we wait to implement these strategies, the more expensive and more difficult our response will be in the future.
• This CAP is not perfect, but it’s a start. We recommend making progress where we can, while learning along the way to refine our efforts. Every metric ton of GHGs we prevent from entering the atmosphere now reduces the negative impacts we and others will feel in the future.
• Washoe County is leading by example to implement solutions we can now, based on best practices and intelligence that have been developed to date.
• It takes a village. To reduce emissions across all sectors of our community and economy, everyone will need to play their part. Don’t wait for someone else to act. You have a role to play and a difference you can make. We are all the ones we’ve been waiting for.
• Maximize impact. Before investing time and money into a solution, make sure it offers the biggest bang for your buck as possible. What solutions will reduce greenhouse gases fastest? How can we reduce emissions while protecting our air, water, and wildlife habitats? While also investing in future generations and our local economy?

Prioritizing this work
Reducing Washoe County’s GHG emissions to Net-Zero is going to take time, and we do not yet have all the technologies and answers we need to get there. Nor do we have the money to fund every solution that’s been identified. This CAP charts the work to be done and processes to be followed to guide our actions toward success. We will prioritize our work based on the following criteria:

• Biggest bang for the buck. Focus on solutions that maximize emissions reductions for each dollar spent.
• Intersectional benefits. Some recommended actions in this CAP mitigate/reduce GHGs (such as those that reduce the burning of fossil fuels); some recommended actions help our communities adapt to the realities of our changing climate (for example, weatherizing buildings keeps occupants more comfortable in extreme heat or cold, and during power outages); and some recommended actions help our communities become more resilient in the face of climate impacts.
• Reduced energy costs. In most cases, reducing GHG emissions saves money. For example, better-insulated, energy-efficient homes and buildings don’t need as much energy for heat and light, thus reducing energy bills for taxpayers, consumer and business owners.
  • Equity. Focus on solutions that impact our most vulnerable populations:
  • Seniors
  • Pregnant women and children
  • Low Income, Disadvantaged Communities

By 2030, we want to be able to say...

• Washoe County has established plans and processes in place to guide the County’s actions toward Net Zero, informed by regular, recurring, data-driven processes for calculating, evaluating and reporting emissions-reductions efforts. 
• Dashboards are in place for all stakeholders and members of the public to view progress of all projects. 
• “Quick Win” projects have been identified and implemented.
• Assessments of longer-term emissions-reductions efforts have been completed and are reviewed annually; implemented as possible.
• County Operations and Community Wide emissions are reduced significantly from 2021 baselines.
• Numbers of businesses, agencies, and residents participating in climate action efforts are growing.
• Environmental measures (heat, AQI) and social measures (Environmental Justice) have improved.