Implementing Chester County's Climate Action Plan
Posted August 28, 2024
In 2021 Chester County adopted a Climate Action Plan (CAP) to reduce the county's contribution to global climate change and improve the health and well-being of our community. The plan includes greenhouse gas-reducing actions both for county government, as well as for municipalities, schools, businesses, and other entities. Since its adoption, the county has created a new structure for implementing sustainability initiatives, with the support of the Chester County Environmental Advisory Board and other partners.
Rachael Griffith, the county's Sustainability Director, highlighted some of the progress made toward implementing the Plan's actions during CCPC's August Board Meeting.
The CAP's overall goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from what they were in 2005 by 80% over the next 25 years. The Delaware Valley Planning Commission's latest greenhouse gas inventory shows that emissions are trending downward and declined by approximately 4.3% between 2015 and 2019, mostly due to cleaner burning power plants and more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Griffith reported several major successes and in-progress initiatives being undertaken by Chester County Government, including: pursuing the installation of a rooftop solar array at one of the county's main office buildings; planned installation of Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations across a number of county properties in 2025; and the county’s recent joining with three other suburban counties to form the Southeast PA Sustainable Energy Partnership to allow the procurement of renewable energy from local projects for county operations.
Some impactful successes have occurred outside county government operations as well. A few highlights include: the Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority was accepted into the Federal Railroad Administration's Corridor ID Program, bringing it one big step closer to becoming a reality; SEPTA committed capital funding to track improvements needed to return service to Coatesville; the county secured $30-million through the region's Transportation Improvement Program to extend the Chester Valley Trail to Downingtown and beyond four new miles opened along the Schuylkill River Trail; and a number of municipalities are updating their solar power regulations to reduce the barriers to going solar.
As you can see, there's been a lot happening when it comes to making Chester County a cleaner and greener place to be! Thankfully, the CAP has and will continue to guide these efforts now and into Chester County's future.