Truckee has decided to commit to a better, cleaner future.

The Truckee Town Council met on Nov. 28 at Truckee town hall to vote on a climate action measure.

In a thread of over a hundred emails sent to Mayor Morgan Goodwin, and available at the town meeting, one pointed out, “Mountain communities are often on the front lines of climate change; warming temperatures, shifts in precipitation, uncertain snowpack, wildfire risk, tree mortality, and local economies vulnerable to weather are just a few of the impacts. We all understand that the future of our community and economy depend on a healthy environment to survive.”

Past town efforts toward climate action include Truckee’s plastic bag ban, Sierra CAMP membership, and baseline greenhouse gas inventories.

Current town efforts include a new sustainability staff member, Gillian Greenburg; reusable foodware for town-hosted meetings and events, adopting an expedited and streamlined permit process for electric charging stations.

The resolutions for climate action presented were 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030, 100 percent renewable energy by 2050, and 80 percent greenhouse gas reduction by 2040.

Climate planning and sustainability actions were presented by multiple organizations from the town, such as the Tahoe-Truckee Sanitation Agency, Tahoe Forest Hospital District, Truckee Tahoe Airport District, Truckee Donner Public Utility District, and more.

The council unanimously voted to adopt resolution 2017-58 to establish renewable energy and electricity, and to meet greenhouse gas emission goals. They also voted to implement Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs, and consider more of the programs for the future.

Patrick Flora commented, “You know, this is a really important moment, kind of a watershed moment for our community, on an issue that is of critical importance, not only locally but nationwide and worldwide. I was really heartened when we took the step back in June, with our resolution, to reaffirm our commitment to combating climate change and taking action, and I really appreciated the presentations tonight … I for one am glad that we’re putting some goals out and am ready to support those.”

Other cities that have also committed to a clean future include South Lake Tahoe; Park City, Utah; Moab, Utah; and Aspen, Colo.

Jessica Abrams, Truckee council member, was absent from this meeting.

Kelsie Longerbeam is the news, business and environment reporter for the Sierra Sun and North Lake Tahoe Bonanza. She can be contacted at klongerbeam@sierrasun.com or 530-550-2653. Follow her on Facebook, and Twitter and Instagram @kelsielongerbm