San Jose, California has made it a priority to combat climate change through energy efficient technology and renewable energy use. In their General Plan, Envision 2040, they enumerate a series of actions and goals to achieve this end.

They plan to measure and report annually the shares of the City’s total Carbon Footprint resulting from energy use in the built environment, transportation, and waste management. By partnering with public, private, and non-profit agencies, they plan to develop policies that require existing residents and businesses to undertake building and appliance energy saving retrofit improvements. Personally, they will replace 100% of the City’s traffic signals and streetlights with smart, zero emission lighting by 2022.

By 2022, their goal is to receive 100% of their electrical power from clean renewable sources (e.g., solar, wind, hydrogen) and to the greatest degree feasible increase generation of clean, renewable energy within the City to meet its own energy consumption needs.