July 19 Update to City Council

At the Tuesday, July 19, Council Meeting, staff presented a thorough update on the CAP so far, and also introduced two major new CAP work products: an updated greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory for Mercer Island (depicting the current emissions trajectory); and a demonstration of our interactive “wedge analysis” tool (assessing the GHG contribution of different sectors of the economy to explore various emission scenarios).

The 45-minute session included discussion of these items, schedule updates, as well as next steps and future public engagement activities. Meeting materials are available here (Item 14), or link directly to the archived video of the presentation. The slidedeck delivered is available in the Let's Talk Document Library.

As a next step, Council directed its Sustainability Committee to further refine the list of 58 potential Goals and Actions to only those that rank at a B+ level or better, and then to assess with consultant support whether those on their own will be sufficient to meet the City’s 2030, 2040, and 2050 emissions reduction targets. If they are not sufficient, some actions may need to be added back in. Staff currenty plan to return to Council in September for an update and final review of the language to be used in an upcoming mailed statistical survey covering the proposed GHG actions..