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Science and Innovations

Flagstaff Adopts Climate Action Plan

City of Flagstaff

On Tuesday night the Flagstaff City Council voted to adopt the Climate Action and Adaption Plan, which identifies ways to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for climate change. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny reports.

City staff wrote the plan with input from more than 1,000 community members. It outlines strategies that will cut Flagstaff’s greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent by 2050… such as renewable energy, alternative transportation, and reduced food waste.

Nicole Antonopoulos is Flagstaff’s sustainability manager. "The climate action plan is a roadmap for Flagstaff in dealing with the changes that we know are already occurring in our climate. How can we better prepare ourselves? How can we work toward mitigating greenhouse gas emissions?" she says.

Antonopoulos says Coconino County is experiencing higher temperatures, less snowpack, and increased wildfire risk. The plan emphasizes protecting the populations that are most vulnerable to those changes. The city will fund specific projects through the regular budget process.

The plan will be updated every five years.

Melissa joined KNAU's team in 2015 to report on science, health, and the environment. Her work has appeared nationally on NPR and been featured on Science Friday. She grew up in Tucson, Arizona, where she fell in love with the ecology and geology of the Sonoran desert.
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