The Climate and Environmental Justice Commission receives updates to the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan

Commission members review ongoing projects and discuss actions for 2026

By MADELYN SEVIGNY — city@theaggie.org

On Feb. 23, the Climate and Environmental Justice Commission received a presentation on the annual update to the city’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan from Sam Blacklock, the City of Davis’ Climate Action and Resilience Program manager.

The 2020-2040 Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) is a living document that outlines strategies for how the City of Davis will address climate change and collaborate with residents and businesses to achieve their goal of attaining carbon neutrality by 2040.

The first City of Davis CAAP was adopted in 2010, and the latest version was adopted on April 18, 2023. It includes 28 prioritized actions across five larger goal areas. 

Blacklock began the presentation by looking back at 2025 and highlighting projects the city has completed across the specific goal areas. He first noted the implementation of the home energy score pilot in conjunction with Yolo County and Cool Davis, which gave homeowners a score between one and 10 on their home’s energy efficiency and then provided them with actionable items to improve that efficiency score. Blacklock also spoke about LED lighting updates that were performed on places like the Civic Center, the Police Department and local parks to significantly improve energy costs.

Additionally, the City of Davis is starting to work with the Western Cooling Efficiency Center at UC Davis on a community virtual power plant. The project is currently still in the agreement phase. 

Another project is “Electrify Yolo,” which is building more electric vehicle (EV) charging stations across Yolo County. In a similar vein, the Moving Transportation Forward Plan, adopted by the council in 2025, introduced a variety of programs related to different forms of transportation, such as public transit and biking, to support the CAAP. 

Blacklock then moved on to discuss a list of opportunities for the CAAP in 2026.

He first mentioned the creation of a CAAP dashboard that would allow the public and commission members to virtually view the status of CAAP-supported projects. He  also mentioned the city could focus on expanding current projects, such as Electrify Yolo’s integration of EV charging stations, and the transition of city vehicles to EVs.

Blacklock then received questions from the commission members. 

Commissioner Jim Cramer expressed frustration with the city’s lack of action on CAAP activities.

“I’m a little frustrated that we haven’t done more,” Cramer said. “We have lofty ambitions and are sort of falling behind.” 

Stan Gryczko, the assistant city manager in the Public Works Utilities and Operations Department, noted funding as a constraint on progress, but expressed that the Davis City Council will continue to allocate funds for CAAP initiatives.

“There is movement ongoing now,” Gryczko said. “Is it some of the fundamental large pieces? No, not yet, [and] that relates to funding. [...] CAAP implementation and how that integrates with city services was still a priority and still will be a priority. So I don't suspect that [...] you'll see much in the way of difference from a funding perspective.”

The floor then opened up for public comment. Richard McCann, a former Natural Resources Commission and Utilities Commission member, spoke about the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the project. 

“We need to pursue better land use planning,” McCann said. “There’s an opportunity with Willowgrove [...] which would result in lower greenhouse gas emissions. We need to push for concluding those things which are consistent with the CAAP. What was done with Village Farms is not consistent with the CAAP.”

McCann noted the importance of making electrifying newly built homes mandatory and building more infrastructure for electric bikes.

Commissioners then discussed the information covered in the presentation and presented during public comment. Cramer explained that more actions need to be taken beyond outreach.

“A lot of what you're doing and what Cool Davis is doing is outreach and education,” Cramer said. “That's absolutely essential, but there's research [...] that indicates that populations generally know about climate change, they know what has to be done, but they don't do it. And so we need to try and set up incentives and to make it easier for them to do things rather than just to be educated.”

To stay up to date on how the City of Davis is working to address climate change or review the CAAP, visit the City of Davis website. 

Written By: Madelyn Sevigny — city@theaggie.org