Phoenix has reduced greenhouse gas emissions in recent years, but the city still has a long way to go to meet its goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, according to a Climate Action Plan Progress Report released by the city Wednesday.
Even though the city’s population grew by about 13% from 2012 to 2022, Phoenix’s carbon emissions dropped by about 10% during those years, the report says.
But Phoenix still has higher emissions per capita than many other large U.S. cities. The report says dependence on cars is much of the reason why.
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said transportation is a primary focus of the Climate Plan adopted by the city in 2021.
“We’re really proud of what we’re doing on transportation,” Gallego told KJZZ News. “We’re trying to make sure people have more options. We’re creating 1,000 miles of bike pathways along our beautiful canals and Salt River bed, we’re trying to electrify our bus system, we are going to triple our light rail system.”
Gallego said another way the city can work toward emissions goals will be to help individual Phoenix residents improve their carbon footprints.
“There’s a huge amount of money in the Inflation Reduction Act to help people get more efficient air conditioners, do energy assessments, lower your energy bills. My sense is most people don’t know about that yet, so that is going to be a major focus in the next year,” Gallego said.
