How cities are acting to preserve their communities in the face of climate change

As our residents enjoyed what our cities offer in the way of outdoor music festivals, soccer and baseball games, and swimming in our parks during our recent summer months, city officials were busy preparing for more impacts from wildfire smoke, increased temperatures, and drought. These impacts are directly related to climate change.

Each year, we feel and see climate change more and more, from the smoke across the state to the increasing heat in my home city of Lacey. We are a Tree City, but our trees are becoming increasingly stressed by drought and heat. The more weakened a tree becomes, the less resilience it has to other stressors: insect outbreaks may cause tree mortality, and the loss of tree canopy reduces shade when we most need it.

The impacts on our cities’ finances will become increasingly debilitating and could lead to major disruptions in our economy—and to city budgets and services. All of this influences our ability to thrive and sustain healthy communities.

Our mayors and city councils are on the front line of efforts to prepare our cities and communities for the realities of climate change. Many, like Lacey, are committed to strong reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Our mayors and city councils are directly accountable to our constituents, and we can often be nimbler and more responsive to our collective needs. Our cities can be incubators of innovative solutions for better public transportation, cleaner and healthier buildings, smarter land use planning, and commitments to renewable energy. Here in Washington, many of our cities are already leading the nation, often collaborating with each other to make the most of our resources. After all, severe weather fluctuations don’t stop at jurisdictional boundaries.

After all, severe weather fluctuations don’t stop at jurisdictional boundaries.

Many Washington cities are initiating new ideas. Spokane and Edmonds committed to 100 percent clean energy by 2030 and 2025, respectively. Many of us partnered with the state Legislature this year to pass groundbreaking policies committing the state to 100 percent clean electricity by 2045, setting a performance standard for large commercial buildings, and increasing air quality by reducing superpollutants. We need to continue to work together to encourage our state to take strong climate action by empowering and providing grants so that our cities can do more to protect our communities.

In my region, the cities of Lacey, Olympia, and Tumwater, along with Thurston County, have entered into a Regional Climate Mitigation Plan that will set limits on global warming pollution and goals of reducing 85 percent of emissions by 2050. It’s important that our residents are engaged and part of the solution. An advisory committee that covers diverse groups will help, both with identifying solutions and finding gaps that need to be filled in order for the plan to succeed.

If municipalities do work on plans together, it’s important to realize that each may need to evaluate different options. For instance, Olympia must address sea level rise, since their city sits at the base of Budd Inlet. Lacey sits higher; we have to address drought and heat waves impacting our trees, as well as water availability. All three of our jurisdictions and Thurston County are impacted by poor air quality from wildfires.

In addition, Lacey has partnered with Puget Sound Energy and other cities and businesses to support a wind project that will make our city operations net zero. We have completed a number of energy service projects through the Washington Department of Commerce (WDC) for our city buildings. The WDC provides a building inventory concerning which types of projects are needed in a city, then sets up loans.

We’re also looking at businesses and office spaces as places to address climate and energy use. The Utility and Transportation Commission just had a ribbon cutting at a renovated office building in Lacey that has all LED lighting; a solar roof; extremely energy-efficient HVAC; air-sealed walls and ceilings; and a stormwater system that incorporates roof runoff into porous swales, recharging groundwater. Encouraging developers to think about how they can save money by being more energy efficient and suggesting possible actions they might take will help make your city more sustainable.

And of course, the City of Lacey is taking action on its own—see “Green Acres” at left for some of the details. We recognize that addressing climate change in our city planning is not just good for the environment; it’s good for our health and budgets, too. Greater energy efficiency in our buildings means lower costs, and promoting renewable energy decreases emissions from power plants statewide.

Our cities will continue to deal with the challenges of sustainable growth, social mobility, economic development, and climate change. I look forward to completing our Regional Climate Mitigation Plan and seeing the results. In the meantime, I hope I can be a positive influence on our residents, encouraging them to take steps to reduce greenhouse emissions. I’m optimistic that we can reduce the effects of climate change and protect our communities as long as we keep taking steps, small and large, to be sustainable.

Lacey Deputy Mayor Cynthia Pratt sits on the Thurston Thrives Energy Efficiency and Climate subcommittee, is the Lacey representative on the Regional Climate Mitigation Plan Steering Committee, and is a member of National League of Cities’ Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Advocacy Committee.