Denver Mayor Michael Hancock on Thursday unveiled a revamped climate action plan including a commitment to cut carbon pollution by 80 percent to address climate change.
Ideas on the table to create a more sustainable city include:
• “Rethinking our streets” to include more bike lanes and wider sidewalks — increasingly discouraging driving;
• More light rail investment, possibly including trolley on East Colfax Avenue;
• Ride-sharing programs to reduce traffic in central Denver;
• Expanded open space to mitigate denser development.
Denver’s 35-page plan, replacing a 2007 plan, responds to recent data projecting Denver will face temperature increases of 2.5 to 6.5 degrees by 2050, exacerbated by paved “heat islands” and more extreme weather.
Meeting goals will entail “a lot of little things we can do,” Hancock said, acknowledging population growth creates challenges.
“As you’re growing, you’re going to have to massively grow more open space,” he said. And city officials will fight to have all new development include a percentage of acres set aside as open space.
The mayor and top officials declared Denver will achieve the 80 percent carbon emissions cut, against 2005 levels, by 2050 — a goal that many other cities have set.
They launched their “sustainability” push at an all-day summit, staged at the University of Denver, which Hancock opened by referring to the Paris summit where nations are negotiating an unprecedented international legal agreement to cut carbon emissions linked to climate change.
More than 350 participants gathered at the 2015 Sustainable Denver Summit. It was aimed at creating, in facilitated groups, a road map to achieve goals.
“This summit is about doing what is needed right now, right here,” Hancock said in opening remarks.
“It is one thing to be committed to the future of Denver. It is another to take action. That’s what we’re here to do.”
He pointed to “sustainability problems” — rising cost issues in which many residents cannot afford living in Denver, lack of transit options other than driving in vehicles that pollute, and sending more trash and compost to landfills rather than recycling.
Over the next 18 months, city staffers are tasked with setting specific projects and tactics to achieve the goals over the next few decades. Denver still must cut emissions by 10 percent a year to be able to meet a goal set in 2013 of reducing annual emissions below 1990 levels by 2020.
The Climate Action Plan identified major sources of carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions: buildings, residences, current land uses and vehicle- intensive transportation. It commits Denver to support state and federal legislation on climate change, including President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan to reduce emissions from coal-burning power plants nationwide.
Bruce Finley: 303-954-1700, bfinley@denverpost.com or @finleybruce