CouveCast
Welcome to the City of Vancouver Washington's official podcast. Each episode is a mix of city insights, stories, behind the scenes and some fun along the way. Real talk with people shaping Vancouver's future.
CouveCast
CouveCast episode 13 Climate Action Framework
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In this episode Climate Fellow Lexi Farina, interning with the City of Vancouver, talks about the initiative Climate Action Framework and what steps are being taken to reduce our footprint and how you can save money in the process.
Welcome to CouveCast, the City of Vancouver's official podcast, hosted by Steve Harris. Each episode is a mix of city insights, stories, behind the scenes, and hopefully a few laughs along the way. No jargon, just real talk with the people shaping Vancouver's future. One episode at a time.
Speaker 1Welcome to CouveCast, the City of Vancouver's official podcast. I'm your host, Steve Harris. Today we will be talking with Lexi Farina, Climate Fellow with the City of Vancouver's climate team. She is here to talk about Climate Action Framework in Vancouver and its vital role in our community. Lexi, thank you for joining me.
Speaker 3Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1Yeah, so first of all, let's talk about Climate Fellow and what exactly that is, and tell me about that.
Speaker 3Sure. So I came to the city of Vancouver all the way from the East Coast. I'm originally from Massachusetts, and I just graduated with my Masters of Public Health.
Speaker 1Oh, congratulations.
Speaker 3Thank you. So this program is for um graduated master students to place them in small and mid-sized cities across the US to get a sense of what's happening at the local government level. Great. And so I matched with the Vancouver climate team, and I'm so excited to be here for a two-year period working on some really exciting issues.
Speaker 1Excellent. Well, congratulations on all that.
Speaker 3Thank you.
Speaker 1So uh speaking of climate, what is the climate action framework and when did this start and why are we updating this now?
Speaker 3Absolutely. So the climate action framework is the city's roadmap to achieving our really ambitious goal of carbon neutrality by 2040. And this plan was adopted by council in 2022 following the heat waves that you probably remember, the heat dome in 2021.
Speaker 1I do vaguely remember. Yes. A little warm.
Speaker 3And so this plan kind of sets out all of the different actions that we can take, both to mitigate the effects of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as to adapt to the already changing climate.
Speaker 1Okay. So some changes and maybe looking forward as well a little bit.
Speaker 3Absolutely.
Speaker 1Um so what are the focus areas of the climate action framework?
Speaker 3So there are many different focus areas within this framework, but think about all things from how you get around the city to how you heat and cool your buildings, what the natural spaces look like in our city, like parks and trails, as well as thinking about some of the cross-cutting areas like equity. We want to be ensure that you know the climate actions that we're taking reach people all throughout the city. We know that some people are impacted differently depending on where they live and the air quality impacts that they might have, or the temperature changes that they face in their neighborhoods. So there are areas and actions in the plan to make sure that this plan touches everyone.
Speaker 1Excellent. Uh and I know there was a public survey uh sent out. What were some of the highlights from that?
Speaker 3Yeah, so we did a recent public survey asking people all sorts of things about the climate impacts that they face and the priorities that they have for the next few years.
Speaker 1Yeah. And so probably got some mixed bag there.
Speaker 3Absolutely. So some of the impacts that people are really facing are extreme heat and wildfire smoke.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 3As you know, that's which we've been facing, yes.
Speaker 1Perfect timing for this podcast, actually, this episode. Absolutely. Yeah.
Speaker 3Um so across the board, I think almost 90% of residents are facing some sort of climate impact.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 3The other thing that was um really interesting to hear is that when asked about people's priorities around climate action, there was an overwhelming response that everyone is interested in protecting our trees in green space.
Speaker 1The tree canopy, what's that about?
Speaker 3Absolutely. Yeah. Well, if you think about it, it ties really well into their concern around extreme heat.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 3So when we think about trees and having lots of shady areas in our city, that can really help the extreme heat problem. Right.
Speaker 1Right. Um, also something I wanted to ask you about uh from the survey was I know bike lanes was uh was a big topic there. And can you talk a little bit about um I know we don't have visuals with this on the podcast, but some of the different bike lanes and then like having a cement structure um that helps block traffic from coming into the bike lanes, some of those results.
Speaker 3Yeah, absolutely. So one of the big areas in the climate action framework is transportation. This is the area that has the biggest impact on our city's greenhouse gas emissions. So we want to make sure that we're providing lots of alternatives for transportation for people who want to block bike a roll.
Speaker 1Take the bus.
Speaker 3Absolutely taking the bus.
Speaker 1Um I took the bus today, as a matter of fact.
Speaker 3Amazing.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 3So in the survey, we found we asked people what their primary modes of transportation were and things like if they wanted to bike, what would encourage them to bike? And a lot of people have said that the biggest um issue around biking is that they feel unsafe.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 3And so then when you ask them some questions about what would make you feel safer in these bike lanes, there are different options that you can have.
Speaker 2Right.
Speaker 3So you can have you know a line painted on the ground, you can have actual barriers.
Speaker 2A little more space, maybe.
Speaker 3Exactly. People really like that because they feel like that makes them feel safer rather than just having a painted line or just a widened street for bikers.
Speaker 1And the the barriers got a pretty good response. Is that because that it really does physically prevent traffic from even touching a bike, essentially?
Speaker 3I mean, I don't have any exact data to share with you on that, but I would imagine. Just the physical visible for people. It you know, gives them that signal to stay a little further away, whereas a line it's really easy to veer over.
Speaker 1Yeah. Well, I'm guessing also with besides biking or taking a bus, but also hybrid, some people will up working from home, not even having to commute to work.
Speaker 3Absolutely. Yeah, we very much encourage that as well.
Speaker 1Yeah, so those are all good things. Um one thing that was uh uh on the survey, shared cost and what residents uh would be willing to pay for. Can you talk about that?
Speaker 3Absolutely. So, as you know, all of the actions in our framework are very ambitious, but it takes money to get things done.
Speaker 1Nothing wrong with ambitious.
Speaker 3So we asked in the survey if um people would be willing to contribute anything additional per month to fund climate activities that they feel are important.
Speaker 1And some interesting responses there.
Speaker 3We saw some really interesting responses and were really pleased that I believe it was about 81% of people said that they would be willing to contribute something additional.
Speaker 1That's significant.
Speaker 3That's really significant. Um of the notable things is that people want to know what the money is going towards.
Speaker 2Yep.
Speaker 3And they would like it to go towards the priority actions that they're interested in. So coming back to those trees and green spaces, for example.
Speaker 1Right. Okay, interesting. Uh and one thing to mention here um if people aren't aware that climate is now a required chapter of the comprehensive plan update. So and that's just got approved with the city and other cities' jurisdictions are approving those as well. Uh so another topic considered uh climate-friendly homes. Uh residents have concerns about uh power outages and rising costs. Can you share a little more about what that entails?
Speaker 3Yeah, absolutely. I think as things change, our homes change with them. So as we're facing more extreme heat events, we're facing wildfire smoke events, um, people are concerned about their power going out or their indoor air quality being poor.
Speaker 2Sure.
Speaker 3And so one of the ways that we can think about that is making either small or large upgrades to our homes.
Speaker 2Right.
Speaker 3So there are small actions that you can take, you know, that are low budget and cost friendly. That can be things like weather stripping, um, you know, putting a small piece of material on your windows and doors that might be leaking out air or bringing in unclean air. You can think about getting a smart thermostat if your system allows. So you can um, you know, utilize your heating and your cooling systems at the times that you need them, but trying not to use them when it's overburdening the system when everyone else has their air condition on.
Speaker 1Yeah, and I think also, isn't it, uh what you're talking about there, uh if you keep it at a constant level, then it's not gonna be fluctuating so much as often.
Speaker 3Absolutely. Yeah.
unknownYeah.
Speaker 1So all those things probably help.
Speaker 3All of those things. And then you have you know bigger upgrades that either keep you safe and comfortable in your home as well as help your home to be more climate-friendly.
Speaker 1Solar panels.
Speaker 3Things like solar panels or things like more efficiency heating systems. Okay. Moving away from using natural gas to heat your home to more electric-powered systems.
Speaker 2Okay.
Speaker 3All of those will both save you money in the long term as your systems are working more efficiently, as well as be really great for the climate and making sure that we're not burning fuels um into the atmosphere.
Speaker 1Excellent. Yeah. Anything to save the footprint there.
Speaker 3Absolutely.
Speaker 1Um something on the survey that gained uh general support uh from the community was um we talked, you talked, we mentioned this earlier about the tree canopy. Anything else more about um, because I know there's quite um initiative for for planting trees um in different areas of the community. So so obviously that's a pretty big thing in our community. We we love our trees, we love them when we go hiking and all that kind of stuff. So, any other information you can share with us about uh the tree canopy?
Speaker 3Yeah, absolutely. I think one of the things to note is that people are really excited and really resonate with these ideas because, like you said, we love to use our green spaces.
Speaker 1It's the Northwest. That's what we're all about are trees.
Speaker 3Absolutely. But one of the things to note that we think a lot about on the climate team is the big areas that are really going to drive down our emissions.
Speaker 2Okay.
Speaker 3And so well trees can both have those resilience benefits, like I said, provide cooling in really hot areas, as well as capture carbon and sequester it from the atmosphere. The things that are really going to drive down our emissions are things like the way we get around and the way we heat and cool our buildings. So there's always kind of that push and pull between the things we love and we want to see versus some of the things that are really high impact.
Speaker 1A delicate balance.
Speaker 3Yes.
Speaker 1Okay, one thing, uh Lexi, I wanted to ask you just for um some additional information about are the climate-friendly homes. Can you give a little more uh background about that?
Speaker 3Yeah, absolutely. I would be happy to. This is actually the area that my fellowship work is really focused on understanding how the city can better support residents to stay safe in their homes, make their homes more affordable, and make sure that they're resilient to the changing climate.
Speaker 2Okay.
Speaker 3So what's really exciting about this is that there's not only kind of thinking about how our homes contribute to the climate, but also how our homes contribute to our own health and safety. And so one of the things that we're looking at is what are the ways that we can do this within the city? Um right now, the city has a really exciting program through our housing team that um provides low interest loans for people who are interested in large home repairs.
Speaker 2Okay.
Speaker 3So this is things like big structural repairs, like repairing your roof or your sewer system. Uh, but it also includes things like weatherization of your home and making sure that any cracks in your home are sealed so that the energy you're producing stays inside and you stay warm in the s in the winter and cool in the summer.
Speaker 1Yeah. And that's can be a significant change.
Speaker 3It's a really significant change. It can also save you money on your utility bills each month.
Speaker 2Sure.
Speaker 3And that program was recently expanded through a grant that we received from the Department of Commerce.
Speaker 2Okay.
Speaker 3It's called the HEAR program, and it provides um free, high-efficiency electric appliances to people who qualify. So customers within that program and through partnerships that we had with the Northwest Native Chamber and the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber were able to get new appliances into homes. And these appliances were able to switch homes to high-efficiency appliances that work better, that provide clean air in their homes, that save them money, and overall just improve the experience of living in your home.
Speaker 1Oh, that's great.
Speaker 3And so what we want to know is how we can do more. And that's kind of what I'm investigating through conversations with the community this summer is how can city programs and services help you to make these changes? Whether that's just learning more about what your home might need and having someone come in and do some sort of assessment of your home to see what are the areas you could save money or become more energy efficient.
Speaker 2Sure.
Speaker 3Whether that's programs that help you to afford these types of um upgrades. We know that things like a new heating system is often a really big upfront cost, but can save you money and many other benefits in the long term.
Speaker 1True, true.
Speaker 3Um, all the way to things like thinking about technical support around this process. You know, it's can sometimes be challenging to understand where to go to find the support, what that process looks like, how long the renovations may take, and what to expect during that. So we're trying to understand what sorts of supports people might need and how we might be able to provide those through programs in the future.
Speaker 1Could be all kinds of ideas.
Speaker 3Absolutely.
Speaker 1Yeah. Uh including smart devices.
Speaker 3Including smart devices, including just simple fixes that you can do on your own, or even habits that you can take within your home, like shutting the lights off when you're not using them, or you know, keeping your blinds down on really sunny days. So it goes all the way from those simple fixes to really big home upgrades.
Speaker 1Check and check, yes.
Speaker 3Yes.
Speaker 1Uh so what are the next steps from the action plan after now that the survey's been done? What can we look forward to next?
Speaker 3So with the action plan, uh, we are mandated by council to update it every four years. And so this is the year that it is going through an update.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 3And what that means is just we're taking stock of the progress that's happened so far. We're getting out in the community and talking to our residents to understand their priorities, which was what the survey was a part of. And now we're taking in, going to be analyzing all of that feedback in the fall to create an updated plan that reflects the priorities that we have now, the work that's already been done, and where we want to go in the future.
Speaker 1And is there a date in mind for when the plan itself, well, all those updates will be completed by?
Speaker 3Yes, it's expected to go to council in December for adoption.
Speaker 1Okay.
unknownYeah.
Speaker 1Uh and does that reflect those, everything you mentioned in the survey and everything, all the results, are those in some way also reflected in the comp plan as a reference?
Speaker 3Yes. So I think a lot of it is in line with what the comp plan team is is seeing already. Um through their engagement processes, they heard a lot of similar things that we heard in the communities around feeling concern for the changing climate, for the extreme heat, for power outages. And so a lot of the things that they have in their plan will be directly reflected in our plan as well. We want to make sure they they work together.
Speaker 1Right. Yeah. So uh I have to ask you, as a as a climate fellow, if you will, um uh with the climate uh framework, has this have you had to work uh with the the people with the comp plan to sort of share ideas and make sure this kind of all comes together as essentially as one thing.
Speaker 3Absolutely. Yes, that was a key part of the process. Um so their plan was updated a little bit before our update, but the comprehensive plan was directly influenced and impacted by the climate action framework that the city already had. And they did additional analyses to understand the climate vulnerabilities in our community and think about what climate pressures we're already facing, what we expect to see in the future. And then we used both of our plans to really inform and shape what those actions are.
Speaker 1Excellent. That sounds great. Well, anything else you uh like to add here before we wrap about climate that I might be missing?
Speaker 3Yeah, I I think just to highlight that climate is really something that we are seeing and feeling right now. As you know.
Speaker 1Absolutely, yes.
Speaker 3Um, and so yeah, this is not a problem, you know, that we will deal with down the line. This is really it's happening. It's happening now, and we invite our the city, our community to all join in. We all have a part to play. Nothing is too small to make a difference. So um really excited to keep working on this at the city and get involved to some of the actions that our community members are taking as well.
Speaker 1Excellent. And as once this gets approved, I'm guessing uh moving forward before the next it's time for the next one. I think you said four years uh between each, that somehow things would be monitored between now and then. So uh when the next one does come around, there'll be sort of another update and and sort of results of what's been happening between this one and and when the next one happens. Does that sound about accurate?
Speaker 3Yes. One of the things that we are adding as a new addition to our update is really clear and actionable metrics that we can measure so that we are better able to do exactly what you said.
Speaker 1Gotta have the metrics.
Speaker 3Track our progress, see where we have really advanced, where we might be falling short, and what areas that we can continue to work on through that next iteration.
Speaker 1And likely followed by another community survey.
Speaker 3Absolutely. Excellent.
Speaker 1Okay, well, uh, I think that's about all time we have for today, Lexi. I want to thank you for joining me.
Speaker 3Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1Oh, of course. Uh if you want more information about this, check out the website at cityavancouver.us/ climate and think about ways you can make a difference in climate.
