The city’s sustainability team presented strategies to reach this goal at Tuesday’s Council meeting, and the first of which took decisive action related to clean energy and sustainable modes of transportation, sustainability managers said.

“I think we need to send the strongest message possible. … We either tackle this in full faith, or we don’t do it at all,” Councilmember Austin Aslan said, adding that he was in favor of the most aggressive approach.

Referred to as “Scenario A,” Council chose the strategy that strives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 43%. In this iteration of the plan, building energy use, consumption and waste, and clean transportation energy account for 44% of the total effort in achieving carbon neutrality by the end of the decade.

Moreover, the strategy projects residential density to increase by 20% while average distance to transit would fall by 25%. It also assumes full funding and implementation of the city’s Active Transportation Master Plan, in turn creating a fully functional biking network in the city.

Councilmember Adam Shimoni said he rode his bike to work for the conversation, adding that it is his goal to lead by example.

This strategy is one of two being considered by sustainability managers drafting the city’s Carbon Neutrality Plan, which is seeking final Council approval on April 6. As the plan neared completion, city staff sought feedback from both the community and Council on the two scenarios, both of which have the city achieving carbon neutrality by the end of the decade.

The City of Flagstaff reported that the sustainability team has received more than 830 survey responses and have spoken with over 800 residents about the path to carbon neutrality. Responses from the latest survey indicate that 57.5% of respondents agree with the current approach the sustainability team has taken regarding carbon neutrality.

A third public survey on the Carbon Neutrality Plan that would last two weeks is in the works before the plan is officially approved by Council.

Both potential scenarios have three primary goals: achieving carbon neutrality, preparing the city for the effects of climate change and addressing climate change in a manner that prioritizes equity for those impacted.

As discussions began, Flagstaff Sustainability Manager Nicole P. Antonopoulos stressed the importance of community-wide participation and bold action from city officials, adding that city decision-makers will need to make climate action a priority.

“It will be difficult to achieve carbon neutrality, and it will require bold action and sustainable commitment,” Antonopoulos said.

Council approved a resolution declaring a climate emergency in front of a packed Flagstaff City Hall in June, accelerating citywide efforts to address climate change and achieve carbon neutrality.

Specifically, the resolution advanced the 2018 Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, including a goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2030. In response, city staff drafted the Carbon Neutrality Plan with the assistance of the Flagstaff community, Climate Action and Adaptation Steering Committee, and technical experts.

Should the Carbon Neutrality plan be adopted next month, it formally becomes the city’s guiding climate document, as outlined in the document it replaces, the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan.

Antonopoulos said this allows the Carbon Neutrality Plan, which was drafted to allow for increased flexibility, to serve as a framework for future climate decisions

“It is intentionally designed to incorporate overarching strategies as well as very specific strategies,” Antonopoulos said. “This will allow us to respond quickly to changing conditions and a variety of new opportunities such as new technologies or securing funding for new initiatives.

The sustainability team outlined seven target areas the plan hopes to address, including clean electricity, reduced building energy use, building fuel switching, decreased dependence on cars, electric mobility, sustainable consumption and waste management, and carbon sequestration.

Also proposed was “Scenario B,” which reduces strategies in transportation in favor of an increased need for negative emissions initiatives, also referred to as carbon sequestration. In comparison, all reductions from building energy use, consumption and waste, and clean transportation energy impact 34% of the goal to achieve carbon neutrality.

The second scenario projects an increased population density by 10%, along with a 12% decrease in average distance to transit. This plan does not rely on full adoption and funding of the Active Transportation Master Plan, yet both scenarios would rely on bolstered biking and pedestrian facilities.

Carbon sequestration accounts for the remaining percentage, which occurs by measuring remaining community emissions not reduced through target strategies, then balancing an equivalent amount of carbon removal.

Sustainability staff described Scenario A as the more confrontational approach of the two, but offered a third option for Council that would have city staff draft a third scenario that is “more aggressive.”

Councilmember Jim McCarthy said that he found the conversation “a little bit frustrating,” as the climate emergency declaration is requiring the city to rebuild a significant portion of its public infrastructure and rethink economy and land use. McCarthy added that changes could be costly, and while he prefers Scenario A, the other option might be “more realistic.

Flagstaff Sustainability Specialist Jenny Niemann said that carbon sequestration is a necessary component to both iterations of the carbon neutrality plan, as there are unavoidable CO2 emissions that will likely remain for the foreseeable future.

“Sequestration helps to fill the gap by counterbalancing emissions,” she said.

McCarthy called for more detail regarding the city’s plan to implement carbon sequestration, agreeing that it was a necessary component of the plan.