The city of Chula Vista has cemented its status as a climate leader in the region by adopting a Climate Action Plan with a commitment to achieve 100 percent clean energy by 2035. It joins the cities of San Diego, Del Mar, and Solana Beach in committing to that goal, and sets the region on a path to lead the nation.
The Chula Vista City Council committed to an evaluation of Community Choice Energy to achieve the 100 percent clean energy goal and offer choice, local control and create local jobs with local renewable development. In addition, it will develop a gold-standard active transportation plan and update its Climate Action Plan in 2020 to ensure it reaches state climate targets for 2030.
“We’re thrilled that Chula Vista continues to step up to lead the regional effort to stop climate change and power our cities with 100 percent clean energy,” said Nicole Capretz, executive director of Climate Action Campaign. “The commitments in this CAP model success for our bi-national region, and we look forward to seeing the momentum continue to build in favor of energy freedom, active transportation, and other innovative climate solutions.”
Mayor Salas reminded the City Council and the public that more than a decade ago, the city was among the first in the state to explore Community Choice Energy. “It was really an unknown at the time,” she said. Now, in contract, “We’re no longer a city that’s standing on our own. We have other partners that we can work with right here in the County of San Diego. So it’s not an unknown venture that we’re going into.”
Nick Segura, IBEW Local 569 Business Manager, added: “I commend the Chula Vista City Council for its commitment to 100 percent clean energy goals. We look forward to working with the Chula Vista Council to ensure our clean goals create local jobs by a skilled and trained workforce and spark economic growth.”
Bike Walk Chula Vista member Randy Van Vleck lauds the city’s commitment to active transportation: “We’re excited that the council voted to support a resolution that seeks to achieve a gold-standard bike-friendly community status and ensure that the city plays a leading role in fighting climate change.
“We applaud the leadership of Mayor Mary Salas and Councilmember Steve Padilla, who confronted the ‘fierce urgency of now,’ urging, ‘Getting moving on getting a real CAP that advances outcomes for our community is not something we have a lot of luxury and a lot of time to tinker around with, because the clock is ticking.’
The plan passed 4-1.