As work on the Routt County Climate Action Plan continues around 40 recommended actions, leaders have established a Climate Equity Advisory Committee to make sure the measures are accessible across the community and do not negatively impact marginalized residents.

"Ideally climate equity is the lens that all of the actions within the Climate Action Plan pass through," Emily Katzman, member of the Climate Equity Advisory Committee, said during a CAP public open house in early December.

Katzman said the three goals of climate equity work are to acknowledge the disproportionate impacts of climate change on marginalized communities, ensure that all climate action locally is accessible to all community members and do no additional harm.

Luisa Lombera, a part-time staff member at nonprofit Yampa Valley Sustainability Council supporting the new committee, explained that climate equity work should be woven into all five sectors of Climate Action Plan efforts: Energy, transportation, waste land use; and economy to assist best practices and outreach.

Lombera noted the effects of climate change have greater impacts on portions of the community that are already more vulnerable, such as low-income individuals who may live in mobile home parks, in flood plains or have less tree cover for shading.

Katzman pointed to one example caused by the warmer, dryer climate in the summers of northwestern Colorado, where residents at higher income levels in better quality housing can address more easily indoor space conditioning compared to lower income residents.

"With summers being hotter and many summers being smoky where you can't just open the doors to cool a space, it's becoming increasing important to have cooling in housing, and it's very expensive to retrofit," said Katzman, who works as the development project manager at nonprofit Yampa Valley Housing Authority. "So, there's a disproportionate impact to low-income communities who need to have cooling in their homes to have safe and comfortable spaces."

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: "Climate change does not affect all people equally. Some communities experience disproportionate impacts because of existing vulnerabilities, historical patterns of inequity, socioeconomic disparities and systemic environmental injustices. People who already face the greatest burdens are often the ones affected most by climate change."

Climate Equity Advisory member Jerry Hernandez, executive director at Integrated Community, said, "the focus on equity is something that is so important at the ground level when systems are being created."

Hernandez noted that many immigrants to the U.S. have left their home countries with "stories of why they immigrated from areas that are under such global stress because of the climate problems that they are facing."

"That's one of the reasons that folks are immigrating because of the climate issues they are experiencing in their countries," Hernandez said.

Lombera explained to the open house audience that achieving climate equity means maximizing the benefits of climate action while minimizing or eliminating additional harm. She said, "climate equity works to redress unequal burdens made worse by climate change."

The committee is expected to address barriers in language, logistics or economic factors that may prevent some community members from participating in climate action programs and will use opportunities to help alleviate unequal burdens faced by various demographic sectors.

"The climate equity work will be done with the existing working groups and their existing recommendations," said Lombera, who earned a master's degree in civil and environmental engineering at the atmosphere/energy program at Stanford University. "It is also basically enacting a lot of what exists in the CAP Board's accountability measures."

Other members of the Climate Equity Advisory Committee and the nonprofits they represent include: Dany Bianco, LiftUp of Routt County; Jen Bruen, United Way of the Yampa Valley; Ian Engle, Northwest Colorado Center for Independence; Mark Fitzgerald, Better Tomorrow; Brittney Wilburn, Health Partnership of Northwest Colorado; and Mathew Mendisco, Town of Hayden.

Lombera pointed to other regional counties undertaking climate equity work such as Pitkin, Eagle and Summit counties. High Country Conservation Center in Frisco released a Climate Equity Plan in October 2023 that presents strategies that decrease local greenhouse gas pollution emissions and ensure underrepresented residents have access to the benefits of climate action. Strategies in the plan address three key sectors of energy, transportation and waste reduction.

According to the Summit plan: "Despite the seemingly pristine ecosystems, Summit County experiences impacts of localized environmental pollution. Data from the Colorado Department of Public Health's EnviroScreen Tool shows that Summit County residents are exposed to higher-than-average ground-level ozone and traffic volume, subjecting those living near busy roads to fine particle pollution and harmful noise levels."

Residents who would like to provide input or get involved can email [email protected] or [email protected]. More information is available on the Routt County Climate Action Plan website at RouttClimateAction.com.