The Priority Climate Action Plan is designed to offer a strategic framework for measuring, planning, and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and related climatic impacts within the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA. The approach involves designing and utilizing this climate action plan as a customized roadmap for making informed decisions and understanding where and how to achieve the largest, most cost-effective GHG reductions that align with the region’s goals.
To prepare for the development of this plan, the TBRPC developed two strategies: engaging with jurisdictions, partners, and communities through branding; and organizing collaborative meetings.
A GHG inventory is an important tool used to analyze GHG emissions and develop strategies for emissions reductions.
Forecasting GHG emissions is needed to understand the dynamics of GHG emissions under different reduction scenarios. It allows us to identify the various reduction measures that would achieve the stated goals.
By addressing the root cause of climate change through emissions reductions, the long-term impacts of climate change will be reduced.
This section presents benefits of GHG reduction measures in terms of reduced co-pollutants from power generation facilities and vehicles.
The baseline inventory analysis for 2021 shows Transportation and Mobile sources represented 42.8% of total emissions.
The other largest contributors were Residential and Commercial Energy which, combined, represented 40.6% of total emissions within the MSA.
In addition to the GHG inventory, Benefits and Reduction measures analyses were conducted
With medium population growth, implementing the prioritized transportation and energy projects within the PCAP, the analysis predicted a decrease in GHG emissions by 2.14% by 2030 and 51% by 2050.