The Fort Collins Recommended Budget for 2022 does not provide adequate funding to achieve the City’s ambitious 2030 Climate Action Plan (CAP) goal.  If all items in the recommended budget are funded, community greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will drop by about 2.6% in 2022.  In order to meet the City’s goal of 80% emissions reductions by 2030 compared to 2005 levels, GHG emissions reductions for the rest of the decade will need to be approximately 7% each year through the end of the decade.

Please send a short e-mail to City Council (cityleaders@fcgov.com) and tell them that it’s important to provide adequate funding for the CAP.  Here are a few “talking points”:

  • The City has an ambitious goal of reducing community greenhouse gas pollution 80% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.  It’s important that the City’s budget keep us on track to meeting that goal.
  • Given recent record-breaking wildfires, hurricanes, and heat waves, the time to act on the climate crisis is now.
  • According to City staff, if all items in the 2022 Recommended Budget are funded, community emissions will decrease 2.6% next year.  To stay on track to the 2030 goal, we need to reduce our emissions by 6 – 7% annually.  The City needs to do more to protect the climate than what’s in the Recommended Budget.
  • The City of Fort Collins passed a climate emergency resolution in 2019.  It’s important that we match our words with deeds by committing the funds necessary to reach our commitments to reducing GHG pollution.
  • Areas in the Recommended Budget where we can do better are the Utilities Energy Services offer, which provides assistance to help Utilities customers reduce their use of electricity and natural gas, and Transportation and Mobility offers, which fund electric buses, bicycle, and pedestrian infrastructure.

For more background, see the Fort Collins Sustainability Group’s Statement on the Fort Collins 2022 Recommended Budget, which is available here.  The Fort Collins 2022 Recommended Budget is available here.

Thank you for supporting the Fort Collins Climate Action Plan!