Advocating for Strong Climate Action Plans
We organize the community to participate in the local government climate action planning process. Our goal is to ensure city and county plans are achievable, effective, and enforceable, and in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Breaking News!
On October 19, 2023, 350 Sacramento filed a lawsuit, alleging that the City of Rancho Cordova abused its discretion in improperly adopting a deficient CAP and associated environment documents. [read more]
Meet the CAP Team Chair
Oscar Balaguer, Environmental Scientist (Ret.)
CAP FAQ
What is a Climate Action Plan (CAP)?
Climate Action Plans (CAPs) are the State’s preferred way for cities and counties to meet their responsibilities to help meet the State’s climate goals. They are intended to address common sources of air pollution (greenhouse gas emissions, or GHGs), such as passenger cars and building energy, by creating guidelines for future development.
Why Climate Action Plans Matter
CAPs should be feasible, effective, and enforceable. A well-designed CAP can help ensure all future development projects adhere to environmental impact protections. This can lead to improved air quality, better health outcomes, energy efficiencies, better transportation/mobility options, and more equitable, livable communities.
The Danger of Weak Climate Action Plans
While a strong CAP can have wide-spread benefits, a poorly designed plan can have the opposite effect – actually enabling future development projects to skirt their environmental responsibilities. In this way, a weak/bad CAP is worse than no CAP at all.
What We Do
350 Sacramento advocates for strong Climate Action Plans. We work with environmental, social justice, and other organizations to make sure CAPs are technically and legally adequate, and to create public awareness and political will for strong local climate action.
Where are the CAPs?
Several jurisdictions in the Sacramento area have CAPs at various stages of development, including Sacramento County, and the cities of Rancho Cordova, Sacramento, Elk Grove, and West Sacramento.
How You Can Help
The more people we can get involved in the Climate Action Planning process, the better! We need volunteers to cover all five municipalities listed above, both to boost our existing efforts and to start up new ones. Participating in the CAP Team can provide valuable civic engagement experience, in addition to being an effective, actionable way to help ensure a liveable future for all.
If you would like to volunteer, please email us at info@350sacramento.org.
“If we take action now, we can unlock a series of positive benefits for everyone.”
– Katharine Hayhoe, Climate Scientist [public domain photo via Wikipedia]
Learn More About the CAP Team
If you are interested in learning more about the CAP Team or would like to sign up, please fill out the volunteer signup form and one of our team members will reach out to you soon.