Oakland Poised To Adopt Breakthrough Climate Protection Targets

Broad Coalition Leads Push for Clean, Green, and Equitable Economy

On Tuesday, July 7th, the Oakland City Council will decide whether to cut the city’s global warming pollution with benchmark targets that would be among the boldest in the nation. Council members will vote on a critical ordinance at Oakland City Hall at 7 pm.

The Oakland Climate Action Coalition, a broad-based alliance of business, environmental, labor, and social justice groups, is spearheading the campaign for strong climate action goals and equitable policies. Dozens of Coalition members will gather at City Hall to support the ordinance. By the numbers, the proposed greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets are 36% below 2005 levels by 2020, and 83% by 2050. These targets are stronger than most Bay Area cities and meet the international standards of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. If adopted, the targets would make Oakland one of the foremost leaders in the nation. “Oakland is not only creating green jobs and healthy communities, it’s stepping up as a global citizen to address climate change,” said David Room, Coordinator of the Local Clean Energy Alliance, a core member of the Coalition.

The Oakland Climate Action Coalition sees such targets as key to revitalizing Oakland’s economy, jumpstarting local clean energy projects, and reducing harmful pollution levels in the city’s most impacted neighborhoods. “We don't need any more pathways into prison for Oakland’s youth. What we do need are pathways into green-collar jobs. Setting strong climate action targets is a powerful way to spur job creation,” said Emily Kirsch of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, the organization that convened the Coalition earlier this year.

Green businesses support the targets, which they see as a way to drive green economic transformation. “Oakland is sending a strong signal with this proposal that they want solar companies like ours to bring clean energy here for the long haul and make this city a leader in climate solutions,” said Danny Kennedy, President of Sungevity, a Bay Area solar firm and member of the Coalition.

Community-based groups in the Coalition represent hundreds of low-income Oakland residents who are disproportionately affected by pollution. Cutting fossil fuel emissions will improve public health by lowering preventable illnesses like asthma and cancer that predominate in East and West Oakland, according to Coalition members.

The Oakland Climate Action Coalition commends the Oakland Public Works Agency’s Environmental Services Division for recommending a set of strong GHG reduction targets to guide the city in choosing policies for its emerging Energy and Climate Action Plan.

Contact: Christopher Maeda-Pease, media@baylocalize.org, (510) 860-5134