The Tucson City Council just approved the plan, but the total cost and sources of money to put it into action on the ground aren't known.
Tony Davis A newly adopted climate action plan calls for transforming sprawling Tucson into a"15-minute city," in which people"can access daily necessities" within a 15-minute walk or bicycle ride from home.
The City Council voted 5-0 Tuesday to adopt the plan. Although council members' discussion of the plan was fairly brief before the vote, the plan's approval followed extensive public input. That included a community survey and nearly 40 public gatherings of various kinds, including workshops, listening sessions, community dialogues and highly informal"pop-up" sessions.
Of those 24 strategies, the plan predicted that seven would take anywhere from one to 10 years to be implemented. The others’ timetables were described as “ongoing,” meaning they will take a “period of time” to accomplish, said Lane Mandle, chief of staff for the City Manager’s Office. As for the sources of money, “It’s going to be all of the above,” meaning a combination of local, state, federal and private dollars, said Vice Mayor Steve Kozachik. “This is a plan that is going to take years to fully implement, but we don’t want to sit around waiting to get everything laid out before we take the first step.”Romero has proven adept at getting federal money for projects, said Councilman Kevin Dahl.
“We develop plans all the time, then that helps us get money. Then we are shovel ready for federal funding,” Mandle said. “Having a plan makes us more likely to get those dollars.” Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | Omny Studio Tucsonans put their top priority for climate adaptation solutions around that extreme heat, the report said. Solutions included increased shade through tree cover or shade canopy, especially at transit stops and community centers, along with more and better maintained green space.
"All actions listed cannot begin immediately or be implemented concurrently. The city’s existing staff and budgetary resources require us to be strategic with how we proceed with and prioritize these actions," the plan said. The climate plan calls for building such hubs in partnership with schools, community-based organizations, neighborhood associations and faith-based institutions. The plan says city officials should work with the Pima County Health Department to develop specifications and best practices for how accessible the hubs should be, what amenities they should contain and how they should be programmed.
"Vehicle-centric urban sprawl has led to a transportation system that is responsible for approximately a third of our community-wide emissions. Electric vehicles and public transit are useful and important tools to reduce emissions from transportation, but the greatest progress will come from shifting our land use and development practices around the principle of a ‘15-minute city'," the report said.
Solar energy pushAnother high priority for the plan is to"decarbonize" the city's electric grid by reducing its dependence on the fossil fuels coal and natural gas in favor of renewable sources led by solar energy. "We use various forms of energy to heat and cool our homes and businesses, power lights, cook food, move vehicles, and even pump water from the Colorado River — life as we know it wouldn’t be possible without energy," the report said."However, our current energy supply is unsustainable and harmful to people and the planet. That is because we are highly reliant upon fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, gasoline, and diesel.
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