Climate and Environment Commission (CEC) 2025 Priorities

The Climate and Environment Commission (CEC) has outlined its priorities for 2025, focusing on advancing the city's Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP). Key areas include:

• Energy: Advocating for Columbia Water & Light to achieve 100% renewable energy generation or purchase by 2030 (a shift from the original 2035 target) and supporting the removal of the 3% rate cap to increase investment in renewables.
• Housing, Buildings, and Development: Monitoring the implementation of energy efficiency standards for rental housing and municipal buildings, including benchmarking and posting energy use data online. They also support adopting the International Building Energy Conservation Codes as written and incentivizing the switch to electric heat pumps for space and water heating.
• Implementation: The CEC will align its discussions of budget priorities with the city manager's development process and collaborate on communications and outreach for CAAP goals.
• Transportation: Monitoring the Public Works department's efforts to revise street design standards to prioritize pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users, and improving bus service efficiency and reliability.
• Natural Resources: Advocating for ecological planning in city-led efforts like the Comprehensive Planning process and promoting native habitat corridors. They also collaborated on changes to water rate structures to encourage reduced water use.

The CEC will continue to monitor progress, provide input on policy development, and collaborate with city staff on various CAAP actions throughout 2025.