Climate and Energy Action Plan (CEAP)

City of Ashland Climate and Energy Action Plan Open HouseStation 1Ashland’s Carbon FootprintCO2 How big is Ashland’s carbon footprint? On a per-capita basis, Ashland’s 2013 footprint was only 65 percent that of Corvallis the same year, and 15 percent of Eugene’s 2005 emissions.As big as burning 38.6 million gallons of gasoline, or the equivalent of over 72,000 cars driven for one year! What is your role? The Ashland community has a role to play in mitigating the harmful impacts of climate change. To meet global climate change mitigation goals set forth by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, each Ashland resident will have to reduce their personal carbon footprint by over 12 metric tons or 68% from 2015 levels by 2020. This is equivalent to taking 2.6 passenger vehicles off the road every year per person! Why do we care? To avoid the most serious climate change impacts, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) advises that the average global temperature increases must be limited to under 1.5 to 2° C. As of 2015, we have already passed the halfway point—average temperatures have increased 1°C since the industrial revolution. Meeting the 2°C goal will require countries and cities around the world to collectively reduce emissions by more than 50% by 2050. To understand our role in curbing dangerous greenhouse gas pollution, the City completed its first-ever greenhouse gas inventory. The inventory quantifies greenhouse gas emissions from both City operations and the Ashland community, including residents, businesses, and industries. The inventory included many different sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the city, including building energy use, transportation, solid waste disposal, and the consumption of goods and food by Ashland residents.