Walk the talk: Stop contributing to climate change and accelerate addressing its local impacts

Adena knows climate change is progressing at a pace even more alarming than past projections. Both fighting and adapting to this new reality are essential to building a sustainable and equitable Berkeley for all of us.

• Update and improve Vision 2050 and our Climate Action Plan. Adena supports the principles in the Berkeley Vision 2050 framework (approved by voters through Measure R in 2018) – a 30-year plan to identify and guide the implementation of climate-smart, technologically advanced, integrated, and efficient infrastructure to support a safe, vibrant, and resilient future for Berkeley. Adena believes it's time to build on the Vision 2050 plan, revamping it to see what is feasible, what we should continue, and what is worth funding. 

  • Similarly, Berkeley’s current Climate Action Plan is 15 years out of date, last published in June 2009. As our climate priorities have shifted in recent years, she will encourage an overhaul of this plan, relaunching it in tandem with a new Vision 2050.

• Prioritize Complete Streets. As our population grows and technology advances, Adena knows we need to reduce our reliance on automobiles by providing safe, reliable, affordable, and efficient transportation options. She supports the Complete Streets model that will enable a greater number of pedestrians and a variety of vehicle types, sizes, and speeds to pass safely on public roads and pathways. 

• Accelerate the transition to clean energy and electrification. Adena supports transitioning our local energy system to one that delivers carbon-free electricity across a highly distributed system. One of her top priorities is to make city-owned large buildings and schools self-sufficient with rooftop solar. That means removing legal and bureaucratic obstacles to making these long-term, smart investments.

• Champion climate resiliency projects focused on floods and wildfires. Adena will encourage projects that include expanding green corridors, increasing native vegetation in public spaces, encouraging green infrastructure, and supporting community-led and fire department initiatives that seek to protect people who are vulnerable to fires in the Berkley Hills. 

  • Adena supports the removal of eucalyptus trees in the Berkeley Hills as they continue to pose a fire risk. We must continue to clear vegetation (Measure FF) during peak summer heat and implement control burns when necessary (of course deferring to the Berkeley Fire Department to maximize safety). She will also continue the Berkeley Chipping Program to allow individual removal of “hard vegetation.”