Climate protection plan to be circulated

Laguna’s attempts to cool down global warming heated up this week.

The city’s Environmental Committee presented its Climate Protection Action Plan to a receptive City Council on Tuesday.

The plan includes more than 100 recommendations for reducing local energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

“We have to wean ourselves off of our addiction to oil and fossil fuel and the time to start taking actions to preserve Laguna for generation to come is now,” committee Vice Chairman Chris Prelitz said. “It’s for the children.

“We live in one of the best cities in the greatest country in the world, but we have taken our success for granted. We are at a great turning point.”

The report will be distributed to the city’s boards, committees and commission for review and comments.

“They all have an interest,” City Manager Ken Frank said.

Comments from the committees will be taken into account by the Environmental Committee before the final draft of the plan is prepared for approval for implementation.

Public comment also is sought. The full text of the report is posted on www.lagunabeachcity.net. Go to the calendar and click on the July 1 meeting agenda. The plan is attached to Item 18.

The purpose of the plan is to provide a blueprint to implement the key provisions of the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, which the council adopted in February 2007.

“At that time, only 400 cities had signed the mayors agreement,” Prelitz said. “Today, over 800 cities signed it.”

The broad goal of the agreement is to reduce manmade greenhouse gas emissions to 7% below the 1990 levels no later than 2012, which would mean a 10% reduction in Laguna Beach from the present levels.

According to the executive summary, the plan focuses on measures that would reduce the impact of transportation and activities that use electricity because these comprise 75% of the total green house emissions.

The activities are organized in the plan under topic heads:

 Buildings

 Transportation and land use

 Government operations

 Commercial operations

 Water Management

 Public Outreach.

“I would like to see this expedited so we can start on implementation ideas,” Councilman Kelly Boyd said.

Village Laguna urged the council to speed up the comment period and convert the report into an element of the city’s general plan.

“What we are dealing with is so difficult that this action plan is worth implementing, even if we find things we have to do along the way,” resident Sal Maddi said.

Prelitz said the committee would be coming back to the council periodically with additional recommendations for reducing the city’s carbon footprint.