MidPen Receives Environmental Award For Climate Action Plan

LOS ALTOS, CA — As if its overall mission wasn't enough to curb an overdeveloped San Francisco Bay Area, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District’s groundbreaking new climate action plan received an award for innovation in green community planning from the American Planning Association in June.

Midpen is among the few regional open space agencies in the nation to adopt a climate action plan and set formal goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Adopted in October 2018, Midpen’s climate action plan provides the public agency with a roadmap to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent by 2022; 40 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050. These goals are in accordance with those of the state of California and the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement.

“Midpen is committed to doing its part to help California reach its greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. Although the public open space lands we manage are a far larger component of this contribution, we are also helping by reducing our operation’s carbon footprint,” Midpen Natural Resource Manager Kirk Lenington said.

Midpen is ahead of schedule on reaching its first goal. A biennial inventory found that Midpen has already reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 14 percent from 2016 to 2018.

The reduction is partially driven by purchasing carbon offsets for business flights as well as more employees working compressed or telework schedules and choosing cleaner ways to commute to work. Midpen also reduced emissions by purchasing renewable electricity from Silicon Valley Clean Energy and Peninsula Clean Energy. The agency also switched to renewable diesel made from agricultural byproducts in its vehicles.

By protecting and caring for public open space, Midpen is helping the Bay Area become more resilient to the effects of climate change by advocating for more open space forests and grasslands, which capture and store carbon from the atmosphere.

More information may be found by visiting www.openspace.org/our-work/projects/climate-change.