Blueprint for Climate Action

The final draft of the City of Petaluma’s Blueprint for Climate Action, the City’s Climate Action Plan is now available. It incorporates the valuable feedback from the public and the City’s Committees, Commissions, and Boards, as well as direction from the City Council received on the Blueprint for Carbon Neutrality and will help ensure that Petaluma maintains a leadership role in climate action and provides a clear roadmap towards meeting the climate goals.

The plan has been renamed the “Blueprint for Climate Action” (Blueprint) to reflect the importance of the actions we all must take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Conservatively, following this Blueprint will lead to a 61% reduction in Petaluma’s Greenhouse Gas emissions by 2030. To be effective, the plan will require aggressive action and budgeting on the part of the City, partnerships with agencies and community organizations, and widespread changes in the activities and behaviors of the community.

The following are the primary changes from the previous draft:

Based on CAC feedback, there are now 33 cornerstone actions included in the Blueprint that are somewhat different from the original 22 actions that were identified. These are also identified separately in each action plan.
Changes in wording associated with all-electric requirements to comply with the 9th Circuit Court Decision
Strategies in all of the Action Plans were updated in response to public feedback and direction from the City’s Committees, Commissions, and Boards.
In order to reduce duplication, the Partnerships and Engagement Section was eliminated and the content of these sections were integrated into the implementation actions to clarify the engagement activities.

The final draft will be presented to the Climate Action Commission and the Planning Commission for a recommendation on October 8, 2024 and to City Council for adoption tentatively on November 2, 2024.

Read the Final Draft Blueprint for Climate Action here!

Appendices A-B
Appendix C
Appendix D

Project Background

The City of Petaluma released the draft Blueprint for Carbon Neutrality in 2023. The Blueprint provided an overview of the greatest challenge that we, as a community, have ever had to face: climate change. Petalumans have already begun to address this challenge through progressive actions that have established Petaluma as both a Regional and National climate leader. As a demonstration of this leadership, Petaluma has set a very ambitious goal to be carbon neutral by 2030—this document was developed to create the pathway to achieving this goal.

The City received over 1,000 public comments on the draft Blueprint and received feedback from the City’s Committees, Commissions, and Boards. The final draft, called the Blueprint for Climate Action, was released on September 26, 2024.

blueprint for Climate Action Process

The Blueprint was developed as part of Petaluma’s General Plan Update. It builds on the City’s existing climate work and will help inform General Plan strategies. Developing this plan was a collaborative effort among City staff, the Climate Action Commission (CAC), and the community. Blueprint development engaged these stakeholder groups multiple times and in different capacities to solicit input and feedback on every aspect of the plan from the inventorying of emissions to brainstorming mitigation measures and prioritizing implementation actions.

When the first public draft was released, a public Open House was held prior to the Climate Action Commission (CAC) meeting on October 12, 4:30-6:30pm, City Hall (11 English Street, Petaluma). Pizza and kid-friendly activities were provided, sponsored in partnership with Cool Petaluma. An online comment form was also available throughout the public review period. The public review period was completed with the presentation to Planning Commission and City Council in April.

Staff and the consultant team continue to finalize the draft plan which will be presented to the Climate Action Commission and Planning Commission for recommendation, and City Council for adoption in Fall 2024.

To stay up to date on the release of the plan please sign up for General Plan Updates.