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Reducing Climate Pollution in Baton Rouge
The Capital Regional Planning Commission is developing Vision Green 2050, a plan to reduce climate pollution in the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area (Baton Rouge MSA) with a grant from the federal government. The plan will make the region eligible for federal funding for improving transportation infrastructure, retrofitting buildings to make them more energy efficient, and building a more self-sufficient and less wasteful energy system.
Latest Updates and Events
On March 1, Baton Rouge MSA completed the first phase of the climate action planning process: The Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP). The plan details steps that the Capital Regional Commission and its partners can take immediately to reduce climate pollution. The actions in the plan are explained below.
Current Activities:
The consulting team, SSG, is currently developing a community engagement plan. Stay tuned for engagement opportunities.
The technical analysis for the Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP) has also begun, focusing on data collection.
Climate Pollution 101
What is climate pollution?
Climate pollution (also referred to as greenhouse gasses) is created by our daily activities, including travel, producing electricity, cutting down trees, heating buildings, and farming. These activities emit greenhouse gasses that trap the sun’s heat in the atmosphere, which warms the earth’s climate.
The most common greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide (CO2). When we burn gasoline, coal, and oil to produce electricity and power cars, trains, planes, and other transportation, CO2 is released into the atmosphere.
Burning these fuels also create nitrous oxide, another greenhouse gas. Farming is another major source of nitrous oxide. Most fertilizers used to nourish our crops are made with nitrogen and are produced through a chemical reaction that releases nitrous oxide.
Other farming activities, like raising cows for dairy and meat, emit methane—a greenhouse gas that is 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide in warming the planet. When cows and other livestock digest food, they burp methane. Methane is also released when organic matter—like food in landfills or manure on farms—decomposes. Additionally, what we refer to as “natural gas” is actually methane. When we burn it to heat our homes or power industrial activities, methane is emitted into the atmosphere.
What is the difference between climate and weather?
Weather refers to specific events, like a storm or a hurricane, that happen each day and are created by short-term changes in the atmosphere. In contrast, climate refers to weather patterns over an extended period of time in a specific area. Climate is typically evaluated based on average measures of weather—like rainfall, temperature, humidity, and wind—over a long period of time, typically 30 years. Long-term changes to the climate affect daily weather patterns. As the planet warms, weather is becoming less predictable and more extreme.
Climate Pollution in Baton Rouge
How is climate pollution affecting Baton Rouge?
The Capital Region has been severely impacted by extreme weather related to climate pollution—from the catastrophic floods of 2016 that damaged over 60,000 homes and killed 13 people to the record-breaking hot weather in July and August 2023 that killed 69 Louisianans and caused many more health-related illnesses.
We will continue to see high levels of rainfall, searing weather, and more intense and unpredictable hurricanes, with consequences for our safety and wellbeing. The sea level is also rising, raising the high-tide and eroding coastal areas across Louisiana.
What kind of climate pollution is emitted in Baton Rouge?
The Baton Rouge MSA emits 49 million metric tonnes of greenhouse gasses—measured in terms of carbon dioxide equivalence (MMtCO2e)—annually. The majority of these emissions (80%) are from industry, including fossil fuels for industrial processes and emissions from agriculture. The remainder are generated by cars and other gas vehicles (11%) powering buildings with coal and natural gas (3%), and solid waste (1%).
Source: SSG analysis
Reducing Climate Pollution: Why and How
Vision Green 2050 is part of the biggest effort to decrease climate pollution and help reduce extreme weather events in American history. The effort will help make Baton Rouge a more liveable place for our children and their children.
What is a climate action plan?
A climate action plan outlines goals, timelines, and actions for reducing pollution. These include modernizing transportation infrastructure and buildings, developing a more self-sufficient energy system with less waste, and investing in renewable energy. We hope our plan will help prepare us for extreme weather events, reduce energy costs, and improve the air we breathe.
How will Vision Green 2050 help Baton Rouge?
It will give us access to funding to improve buildings and energy systems: The plan will give us access to federal funding for wind and solar energy and upgrading our buildings. Using this money, we can build a more efficient energy system that is more reliable during storms and hurricanes.
It includes measures to improve our housing: Buildings across Baton Rouge are poorly insulated and expensive to heat and cool. Improving insulation, especially in low-income communities, can make homes and other buildings more pleasant while reducing energy bills.
It will help us clean the air we breathe: Louisiana has some of the worst air pollution in the United States. This pollution contributes to cancer cases and other health problems. By improving our trees and greenspaces, and replacing fossil fuels with green energy, we can reduce air pollution.
It will help us protect and grow our economy: Reducing climate pollution from transportation, buildings, and industry, requires new investments that create opportunities for existing companies and entrepreneurs. For example, as an industrial center, Baton Rouge could become a hub for decarbonizing industrial processes. Additionally, our construction sector could see millions in investments to improve insulation and other aspects of our homes.
To support future generations: The plan is part of a national effort to reduce climate pollution to reduce the frequency and severity of extreme weather. By improving our homes and energy systems, reducing air pollution, and helping green economic sectors flourish, we can make Baton Rouge a safer place for our children and our children’s children.
The Climate Planning Process
There are two stages to Baton Rouge’s climate process. The first phase—the development of a Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP) that details steps we can take immediately to reduce climate pollution—is complete. In the second phase, the Capital Regional Planning Commission will develop the Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP), a strategy for reducing pollution in the long term. The Plans are funded by a Climate Pollution reduction Grant from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Priority Climate Action Plan
The Capital Regional Planning Commission has already developed and adopted a PCAP.
How the PCAP Was Developed
The Capital Regional Planning Commission worked with consultants and partners to develop the plan. The actions were designed by combining technical analysis with community input. The actions were chosen based on the following criteria:
How much climate pollution they could reduce
The availability of funding for the action
The potential for the action to create positive transportations
Other environmental benefits of the action
The positive impact of the action on low-income and equity-seeking communities
The feasibility of the action
What the PCAP Will Do
The plan includes 12 priority actions to reduce climate pollution from transportation, promote energy-efficient buildings, and develop renewable energy while restoring and improving natural spaces. The PCAP also has one priority action to promote industrial decarbonization by creating an alliance with local government agencies to power industry with green hydrogen and other renewable energy sources.
Reducing Climate Pollution by Improving Transportation
The PCAP focuses on making it more convenient for people to walk, bike, and take public transport instead of using their cars, as well as promoting EVs and building EV chargers to make it easier for people to use electric cars. Reducing air pollution from cars increases life expectancy. Additionally, these measures will create jobs in the transportation industry.
Improving bicycling and walking infrastructure: The PCAP recommends expanding the East Baton Rouge Parish Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, including to low-income communities.
Making public transportation more convenient: The PCAP calls for improving CATS services in the cities of Baton Rouge and Baker to and expanding the Plank-Nicholsen Bus Rapid Transit System. The PCAP also recommends creating transit systems in Baton Rouge MSA’s five parishes (East and West Baton Rouge, Ascension, Iberville, Livingston) to improve access for communities outside the city of Baton Rouge.
Create a BR-NOLA Rail: The PCAP recommends creating an inter-city passenger rail service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans to provide a reliable alternative to driving.
Promoting EVs: The PCAP recommends establishing a Clean Cars 4 All Program to provide support to lower-income communities to purchase hybrid cars and EVs, as well as e-bikes and other alternatives to regular gas-powered cars.
Additionally, the PCAP recommends giving people financial support for installing home chargers and/or prepaid charge cards when they buy hybrid or electric cars.
Promoting Energy-Efficient Buildings
The PCAP includes actions focused on making buildings more energy efficient and improving design features like insulation, so less energy is required to run buildings. These steps help reduce energy waste and make buildings more comfortable while creating jobs in the construction sector. They also reduce how much renewable energy is required to run buildings as we phase out fossil fuels.
Develop net-zero neighborhoods: The PCAP recommends building 2,000 new net-zero homes in existing communities by 2034. Net-zero homes produce as much energy as they consume, typically through solar panels, and powering them creates minimal climate pollution.
Low-interest loans for energy efficiency retrofits: The PCAP calls for creating a low-interest loan program for home energy efficiency retrofits with zero-interest loans for low-income households. These loans could go to measures such as improving installation or installing heat pumps, which can lower energy costs and air pollution.
Incentivize high-efficiency buildings: The PCAP recommends providing developers with incentives, such as density bonuses and reduced parking requirements, for building to high-efficiency performance standards and incorporating efficient technologies. These measures can reduce energy waste and bills while decreasing the burning of fossil fuels.
Developing Renewable Energy
The PCAP explains how local government agencies can promote local solar energy and microgrids, which are small electricity networks serving neighborhoods or groups of neighborhoods next to one another. While these grids can be connected to the larger grid, they can also operate independently with local solar energy, making them more resilient during hurricanes and other events that knock out the larger grid. Creating these systems will create local energy jobs, along with renewable energy for producing green hydrogen for industry.
Developing community solar projects: The PCAP recommends developing community solar projects that can provide clean electricity in place of power produced with coal and other fossil fuels. Producing solar energy is cheaper than ever before and backed by federal funding.
Building microgrids: The PCAP calls for developing 10 microgrids in the cities of Baton Rouge and Gonzales to distribute solar energy.
Restoring and Improving Natural Spaces
Natural spaces absorb carbon dioxide through a process called carbon sequestration and help improve air quality and health. The PCAP includes measures to restore natural areas and grow our tree canopy.
Restoring wetlands and other natural areas: The PCAP calls for restoring and enhancing 200 acres of local wetlands and natural areas, such as prairie and forest ecosystems, annually.
Planting and caring for trees: The PCAP recommends improving the region’s tree canopy, which will improve air quality and help cool our communities during heat waves.
Reducing Climate Pollution From Industry
