Climate Change

Santa Cruz County Residents are already experiencing impacts from climate change from wildfires, extreme weather, poor air quality and more. A wide variety of impacts are likely to be felt with increasing magnitude as the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere continues to rise.

In order to address climate change, the County of Santa Cruz has adopted the 2022 Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP), which was developed by an interdepartmental working group. The 2022 CAAP includes the most current data on climate impacts for unincorporated Santa Cruz County. The 2022 CAAP is comprised of actionable steps towards reducing the causes of global warming, adapting our communities to climate hazards, and ensuring the safety and well-being of those most vulnerable to climate change.

The County has also developed an online CAAP online Storymap, which presents a clear and graphically detailed overview of the 2022 CAAP, including the most recent GHG Emission Inventory and map-based descriptions of its climate vulnerabilities.

CAAP Storymap (click to view)

The current Plan builds on the County’s previous work to address climate change through its 2013 Climate Action Strategy (CAS). Progress on the implementation of the CAS can be found for the years 2019, 2018, and 2017. In addition, the County of Santa Cruz is a founding member and fiscal sponsor of Central Coast Community Energy. Central Coast Community Energy is a Community Choice Energy agency established by local communities to source clean and renewable electricity for Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz counties, and parts of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties while retaining your utility provider’s traditional role delivering power and maintaining electric infrastructure as well as billing.

CAAP Resources and Links

Climate Change Resources and Links

California Climate Adaptation Strategy
California Healthy Places Index
City of Santa Cruz Climate Action Plan
City of Watsonville Climate Action Plan
CalEnviroScreen
- CalEnviroScreen is a mapping tool that helps identify California communities that are most affected by many sources of pollution, and where people are often especially vulnerable to pollution’s effects.
- CalEnviroScreen uses environmental, health, and socioeconomic information to produce scores for every census tract in the state.
- The scores are mapped so that different communities can be compared. An area with a high score is one that experiences a much higher pollution burden than areas with low scores.
- CalEnviroScreen ranks communities based on data that are available from state and federal government sources.
FEMA Resilience Analysis and Planning Tool (RAPT)

Electrification & Efficiency Resources

Vehicle and Home Electrification

Monterey Bay Aire Resources District – EV Rebate Program
Central Coast Community Energy

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Support

Addressing Climate change is a multi-faceted effort and is integrated into the efforts of many community organizations working hard in Santa Cruz County and the region. Below are some of the organizations and people working every day to address the Climate change and its impacts.