This toolbox contains 73 actions already taken by cities, counties, and regional governments which can mitigate the deterioration of the Earth’s climate. Feel free to adapt them to your region.

For details about the Actions offered by the Toolbox see the Overview

 

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Found 73 Results
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Fossil Fuel Divestment

Community Education & Action / April 22, 2023

Description: Students, retirees, faith-based organizations, and others are acting to stop or withdraw investment in the fossil fuel industry. Activists around the country are calling for similar actions by pension …

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Creating Solar Microgrids for Clean Energy and Resilience

Buildings, Energy / April 22, 2023

Description: Creating a local microgrid improved resilience, expanded local clean energy production, and reduced dependence on transmission lines and remote electricity generation for the Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD). …

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Community Solar Projects

Energy, Equity / March 26, 2023

Description: Communities around the country are benefiting from access to community solar projects, a distributed solar energy deployment model that allows customers to buy or lease part of a larger, …

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Regional air district adopts rule phasing out gas-fired heating appliances

Air Pollution Agencies, Buildings / March 23, 2023

Description: In March of 2023 the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) adopted first-in-nation rules to phase out and eventually prohibit the sale of new natural gas-fired water heaters …

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Prohibiting Natural Gas (methane) Infrastructure in New Buildings

Buildings / January 24, 2023

Description: This adopted ordinance will prohibit installation of natural gas (methane) infrastructure in new buildings in the city of Berkeley, CA. The ordinance relies on police powers granted by the …

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Reduce VMT by Zoning – Urban Agriculture

Transportation & Land Use / November 29, 2022

Description: Urban agriculture refers to the growing and raising of crops and livestock within a municipality’s boundaries for local consumption. Often the food is for the use of the grower …

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Year-Round Community Garden

Community Education & Action, Transportation & Land Use / November 27, 2022

Description:  The Skidmore College Student Garden is an extension of the College’s Food System Initiative where food grown in the student garden is provided to the college’s dining hall thereby …

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Climate Parking Fee

Equity, Transportation & Land Use / September 30, 2022

Description: The Department of Transportation of Portland, Oregon has increased the cost of parking at city parking meters by $0.20 per transaction to both send a signal to the public …

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Restrict fossil fuel infrastructure development – industrial scale facilities

Energy, Industry, Transportation & Land Use / September 28, 2022

Description: Cities across America are passing ordinances that prevent the fossil fuel industry from building or expanding fossil fuel operations within their municipalities through land-use ordinances. These laws predominantly target …

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Restrict fossil fuel infrastructure development – retail facilities

Energy, Industry, Transportation & Land Use / August 12, 2022

Description: In 2019, the City of Petaluma, CA adopted an “Urgency Ordinance” imposing a temporary moratorium on new fueling station uses within the City. The temporary moratorium provided time for …

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Multi-Building Geothermal Heat Pump Systems

Buildings, Energy / June 22, 2022

Description: Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana replaced four aging coal-fired boilers with a campus-wide geothermal heat pump heating and cooling system. Built in two phases from 2009 to 2014, …

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Use the ULEZ to improve air quality and reduce pollution

Equity, Transportation & Land Use / March 17, 2022

Description: In 2003, London made history by becoming the first city after Singapore to introduce congestion pricing for vehicles entering the Congestion Charge Zone in Central London. Following initial implementation …

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Commercial Building Deep Energy Retrofit

Buildings, Energy / March 17, 2022

Description: To reduce carbon emissions from buildings, the City of New York enacted Local Law 97 (LL97) in 2019 as a part of the Climate Mobilization Act. This leading-edge law …

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Use General Plans to Reduce Climate Emissions and Fossil Fuel Use

Equity, Natural & Working Lands, Transportation & Land Use / March 17, 2022

Description: City and county Comprehensive Plans, also known as General Plans or Master Plans, are long-range plans that guide decision-making, establish rules and standards for development and improvements, and help …

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Adopt Climate Emergency Resolution

Community Education & Action / March 09, 2022

Description: Cities, counties, and states in the U.S., and communities around the world, are formally adopting resolutions acknowledging that human activities have warmed the Earth to a point that threatens …

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Using Low Risk Opt-in Loans to Decarbonize Buildings Equitably

Buildings, Energy, Equity / March 04, 2022

Description: In 2019, the Common Council of Ithaca, New York approved the Ithaca Green New Deal (IGND), which allowed the city to assign additional staff and resources to create and …

Using Low Risk Opt-in Loans to Decarbonize Buildings Equitably Read More »


Power generation from renewable sources

Water / November 12, 2021

Description: The use of digester gas driven fuel cells allows the Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) in Riverside County, CA to run some of its Moreno Valley and Perris Valley …

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Use waste heat

Water / November 12, 2021

Description: Recover/Productively Use Waste Heat – Many water and wastewater treatment facilities, including the Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) in Riverside County, CA, implement heat recovery to reduce overall energy …

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Reduce heat island effect

Parks & Cool Streets / November 11, 2021

Description: Temperatures in urban areas are rising as a result of climate change. In Los Angeles, the Bureau of Street Services conducted a pilot study in 2017 to investigate the …

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Energy use reporting

Buildings, Energy / November 10, 2021

Description: Some cities are requiring building owners to publicly disclose the annual energy and water used in their buildings. New York City Local Law 84 initially required buildings larger than …

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