Harris County Adopts Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 40% by 2030.

L.A. Johnson/NPR

Harris County leaders have adopted a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the county’s activities. The plan was passed by the Court of Commissioners in a 3–1 party line vote.

The Harris County Climate Change Action Plan for Domestic Operations aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 compared to a 2021 baseline. Measures the county proposes to achieve the 2030 goal include:

• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from county buildings and facilities without using offsets by 2030.
• Reducing electricity consumption by at least 5% per year.
• Structuring a long-term contract for the sale and purchase of electricity with a capacity of 50-100 MW.
• Development of up to 20 megawatts of solar power plus 10 megawatt-hours of battery power by 2025, which will ultimately reduce the county’s use of electricity from the grid.
• Electrification of 50-75% of the district’s car fleet and an increase in the share of hybrid and fuel-efficient cars.
• Transferring 10% of commuter trips from single-seat vehicles.
• Increasing the share of spending on green purchases.
• Reducing 50% of landfilled waste from district operations.

“Not only do we want to reduce our emissions, but we want to be financially responsible by lowering operating costs and harnessing clean energy opportunities where applicable, as well as further strengthening our adaptive capacity and operational resilience in district governance,” said Lisa Lin, director. sustainability for the County Administration Office,

Commissioner Adrian Garcia said the plan had ambitious but flexible targets. “But we have to set these goals,” he said, “or we won’t move forward. But without a doubt, this positions Harris County as a leader in this regard, and I’m very, very excited that progress is being made.”

Commissioner Tom Ramsey voted unanimously against, voicing concerns about the cost.

“Many of the costs associated with emission reduction measures will pay off in the short to medium term. This is stated in the report,” Ramsey said. “But we have to be careful that we’re going to invest federal dollars in a program and set it up, and then when the federal money runs out, we’re left to manage it.”

Ramsey said the county needed to work with industry as part of its efforts to reduce emissions, and Commissioner Leslie Briones echoed this in her first regular court meeting.

“I am also proud that we have the Energy Corridor in Section 4,” Briones said.

Harris County is now the second county in Texas to have a climate change action plan after Travis County. “I want to work closely with industry so that we remain not only the energy capital of the world, but also the world capital of alternative energy,” said Briones.

Commissioner Rodney Ellis, who presided over the meeting in the absence of Judge Lina Hidalgo, called on Lin to apply her experience to ensure that 88^th The Texas Legislature, which opened today, has not undermined Harris County’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“We are the energy capital of the world,” Ellis said, “but we are also the biggest polluters.”