From left, Allison Wood (SANDAG), Scott Anders (EPIC), Crystal Najera (City of Encinitas), Katie Hentrich (SANDAG), and Poonam Boparai (Ascent Environmental) receive the award at the San Diego AEP Annual Awards and Scholarship Banquet on September 20. Courtesy photo: City of Encinitas
ENCINITAS–On September 20, the City of Encinitas was honored for excellence in environmental planning. The San Diego Association of Environmental Professionals (AEP) recognized Encinitas’ 2018 Climate Action Plan with the distinguished award of Outstanding Planning Document of the Year. The plan was acknowledged for its exceptional clarity, accessibility, and environmentally-sound design elements.
“The City’s Climate Action Plan is only the second ‘gold standard Climate Action Plan’ in the region and what makes ours stand out is that we have an implementation plan that can be easily monitored and will help us stay on-track,” stated Mayor Catherine Blakespear. “I’m proud of our staff, elected leaders, and community members who all contributed to make this plan a success.”
The Association of Environmental Professionals recognizes “exceptional technical and environmental documents” with their annual awards. The Outstanding Planning Document accolade honors documents created with strong public outreach and accessibility efforts that are clearly organized, easy to read, thorough, and that advance environmental design initiatives.
In January 2018, after a series of public workshops and input opportunities, Encinitas City Council unanimously approved the Climate Action Plan update, making Encinitas one of the first in the region to adopt an update to a previous climate action plan. The 2018 version builds upon and enhances the goals and actions of the previous document to keep the City’s plan consistent with current climate science and state regulations. The 2018 Climate Action Plan lays out a roadmap for reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions and sets ambitious reduction targets:
- 13% below 2012 emission levels by 2020 and
- 41% below 2012 emissions levels by 2030.
By working to meet these targets with a series of overarching strategies and associated actions, the City of Encinitas is proving its commitment to combating climate change and enhancing quality of life for its residents.
The award is shared with Encinitas’ partners in preparing the 2018 Climate Action Plan update – Ascent Environmental, the Energy Policy Initiatives Center (EPIC), and San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG).
The City of Encinitas climate initiatives and Climate Action Plan are available online at www.encinitasca.gov/climate.
For more information on the San Diego Association of Environmental Professionals and the Outstanding Planning Document Award, visit www.sd.califaep.org
