Truckee’s Town Council officially adopted the revised 2040 General Plan on May 9th, 2023, following an extensive five-year process that involved public engagement, exploration of land use options, and thorough environmental assessment. The plan outlines Truckee’s short and long-term objectives for sustainable development. Its overarching aim is to improve and preserve Truckee, prioritizing environmental responsibility and the well-being of its residents. The General Plan’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) Element specifically focuses on addressing climate-related challenges and promoting sustainability.
The Climate Action Plan recognizes the challenges that Truckee is facing and will continue to face as climate change intensifies, including devastating wildfires, extreme heat and intense winter storms. As an area dependent on the local environment for recreation and tourism, Truckee must adapt to the changing climate while striving to reduce and eliminate community emissions. To this end, the Town has adopted aggressive greenhouse gas emission reduction targets that reflect the seriousness of the climate crises. By 2030, the Town aims to source 100 percent of electricity used community wide from renewable sources, and to source all energy from renewable sources by 2050. By 2040, Truckee’s goal is to reduce emissions 80 percent below 2008 levels.
To achieve these goals, the CAP lays out goals and policies that target our largest emission sources: building energy use, transportation, land use and solid waste.
Building Energy Efficiency
The Town is commmitted to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from residential and commercial buildings by improving efficiency and converting to cleaner energy sources. Ongoing and future policies and programs include promoting building retrofits, solar, and use of efficient electric technology, in addition to supporting contractor workforce development and leveraging State and Federal incentives. The Town is also exploring policies to hold new construction to higher efficiency standards.
Transportation
The Town is looking to decarbonize transportation by reducing vehicle miles traveled and moving to cleaner forms of transportation like electric vehicles, bicycles and public transit. Vehicle miles traveled will be analyzed for all qualifying land uses to ensure that new development is planned efficiently and alternative forms of transportation are encouraged. The Town is also preparing to install more infrastructure to support pedestrian, bicycle and EV uses.
Solid Waste
The Town is arleady implementing programs to divert solid waste from landfills and reduce methane emissions landfill sites, and plans to expand upon these progams in the coming years. Waste reduction programs and policies include composting services, single use foodware and plastic bottle reduction policies, food recovery, and green waste and recycling services. Future projects include exploring forest biomass for heat or energy and expanding current reuse and waste reduction initiatives.
Land Use
The Town is planning land uses for carbon free transportation, land restoration and carbon sequestration projects. This will also include promoting designs that reduce single-occupant automobile trips and create compact, higher density, pedestrian-oriented development and neighborhood-serving commercial and mixed-use centers.
Through these policies and actions, the Town hopes to create a mores sustainable and environmentally friendly future that will preserve our environment and keep Truckee green, long into the future.
Access the General Plan and Climate Action Element.