K. Community Role in CAP
Climate action will be most effective when community members take ownership and leadership in the quest to reach Net Zero 2050. “The community” includes everyone – residents, business-owners, building developers, government agencies, non-profit organizations, tribes, researchers, artists, and more. Members of our community often know the pain points in our region as well as the biggest opportunities for progress. This CAP is based on extensive outreach, and continued outreach, coordination, feedback, engagement and leadership will be necessary during the CAP’s implementation.
We will support and strengthen existing efforts in the community whenever possible. For example, Washoe County’s Sustainability program already coordinates closely with Reno Resilience and seeks opportunities to collaborate on their existing Sustainability and Climate Action Plan. We look forward to coordinating with all regional jurisdictions and agencies to implement best practices.
We know the Washoe County community cares about climate change. According to the 2023 Yale Climate Opinion survey, the percent of people who in Washoe County who believe global warming is happening (76%) is greater than the national average (72%) and is higher than any other county in Nevada. At least 56% of people think local officials should do more to address global warming. See Appendix 11 for full Yale Climate Opinion survey results for Washoe County. The results of our Sustainability team’s Clean Air survey, which was circulated broadly in the Washoe County community, showed that 76% of respondents said that Washoe County’s action to reduce GHG emissions was either “Very important” or “Somewhat important” to them.