Tuesday, September 22, 2026, 10:45 a.m. (Denver time), Parr-Widener Community Room, Room 389
This Budget Hearings meeting, day 2, featured a presentation from the Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency (CASR) on its proposed 2027 budget. Executive Director Liz Babcock outlined the agency's strategic priorities (cutting carbon pollution, climate adaptation, zero waste, equity and climate justice), a draft NASA-funded heat risk index, greenhouse gas emission trends, funding sources (primarily the voter-approved Climate Protection Fund), capital projects, major contracts, grants, and core community programs. Council members asked about tree planting and heat data in their districts, the disposable bag fee fund balance, data center working group funding, general fund versus Climate Protection Fund staffing, multifamily access to programs, a landlord electrification pilot, state data center legislation, recreation center HVAC prioritization, drought and water conservation, and Sanderson Gulch flooding. Staff made several commitments to follow up with data, briefings, and corrected budget book figures. No votes were taken.
0:40 Morning again, everyone. We're
0:43 back to during 2 of the day on
0:45 day 2. And we're really
0:46 excited for this presentation
0:51 from the climate action
0:52 sustainability and resiliency
0:56 We can do do intros after.
0:57 Let's go ahead and get started
0:57 with the You can introduce
0:59 yourself and your team. We
1:00 don't just go around the table
1:02 after its PRESIDENT. Thank
1:06 you. Good morning. I'm Liz
1:07 Babcock, the executive
1:08 director of Denver's Office of
1:10 Climate Action Sustainability
1:11 and Resiliency. Happy to be
1:14 here with you this morning.
1:15 And would love for my team to
1:16 go ahead and quickly introduce
1:21 themselves as well. The deputy
1:22 executive director in the
1:22 climate office over the
1:26 Climate Action Division.
1:28 Jonathan Wachtell, also deputy
1:29 executive director over that
1:29 climate adaptation and
1:33 sustainability resiliency I'm
1:33 really getting and director
1:35 communications and strategic
1:37 initiatives, Tim's Direc
1:37 director of finance and
1:43 administration here. The table
1:44 comes. Going to good morning
1:46 out there watching find
1:47 district 9, you know, so many
1:49 them and send them into a scam
1:51 district Good morning, about
1:57 Campbell Southeast Denver
1:58 district 4 down the keen go
2:01 chief financial to But it
2:02 district 7.10 Emily Garnet
2:04 chief operating officer,
2:06 thanks. Difference. Perfect as
2:15 councilmember at large, Kevin
2:17 Flynn south going to just 200
2:22 drop rate from finance. Just
2:23 insights. COUNCILWOMAN To
2:23 clear and go ahead and take
2:26 it. Thank you so much. So our
2:30 agency was created in 2020. To
2:31 address climate change and
2:33 build a more sustainable and
2:34 resilient Denver. Our vision
2:35 is that together we build a
2:37 carbon pollution-free
2:38 sustainable and resilient
2:39 climate, resilient Denver, for
2:42 all. And our mission is in
2:43 Denver. We believe that the
2:45 climate crisis is solvable and
2:46 together we are the ones to
2:49 solve it. We manage it are
2:50 bold climate action goals for
2:51 the city. We promote policies
2:54 and programs that reduce gas
2:54 emissions and build resilience
2:57 to climate change impacts
2:59 cancer is dedicated to equity.
3:00 Prioritizing the needs of
3:01 Denver's most climate,
3:01 vulnerable communities. And
3:06 you can see our plans. Our
3:06 annual reports, community
3:07 initiatives and other
3:09 information on our Web site at
3:11 Denver. Gov Dot Org Slash
3:12 sustainability. And I do want
3:13 to point out we produce an
3:14 annual report each year comes
3:16 out in JUNE and it does have
3:18 all all of the detailed
3:19 information about all of our
3:20 activities each year,
3:21 including in the appendix,
3:24 very detailed financial
3:26 the expenditures in the
3:26 information, including all of
3:28 Climate Protection Fund. How
3:30 we spend those dollars, what
3:30 contracts we have, what
3:31 programs are going to. So if
3:33 you want a lot more detail on
3:34 everything that we've done
3:35 annually, you can find those
3:40 and annual reports. So our
3:41 strategic priorities for
3:43 Twenty-twenty 7 are similar to
3:45 years past. First to cut
3:47 carbon pollution through
3:47 policy programs and projects
3:51 in energy efficiency. Electric
3:52 Haitian of buildings and
3:53 transportation and clean
3:54 mobility options like public
3:57 transit, biking and walking.
3:59 We also want to help our
4:00 community adapt to climate
4:02 change by planting trees and
4:02 creating green spaces to
4:06 reduce urban heat islands.
4:07 Implement nature based
4:07 solutions and sustainable
4:09 land. Use policy, identify and
4:11 plan for climate
4:12 vulnerabilities and create
4:13 programs to meet the needs of
4:14 people and communities most
4:17 affected by climate change
4:18 impacts our 0 waste and
4:19 circular economy work is
4:20 focused on recycling and
4:22 composting to reduce landfill
4:23 waste through the
4:24 implementation of the
4:26 universal recycling and
4:27 composting ordinance. We
4:28 implement policies and
4:29 programs to reduce single-use
4:32 items and promote sustainable
4:33 packaging and tracking and
4:34 reporting on material use and
4:37 consumption based emissions.
4:38 Our equity and climate justice
4:40 work is really focused on a
4:41 number of key areas, including
4:45 climate, resilient food
4:45 systems, advance in clean
4:46 energy and natural resource.
4:47 Workforce development in
4:51 partnership with Tito ensuring
4:52 program accessibility
4:53 developing tailored programs
4:54 to lower carb or carbon
4:55 pollution and energy bills for
4:57 climate vulnerable households
4:58 and neighborhoods. And
4:59 finally, our communications
5:03 and strategic initiatives work
5:03 focuses on increasing
5:04 language, access, leading
5:06 behavior, change campaigns
5:08 developing strategic
5:09 engagement efforts for
5:10 priority projects in our
5:11 neighborhoods, such as full
5:13 electrification of the
5:14 neighborhood and supporting
5:15 community climate change
5:20 ambassadors. So our budget
5:23 philosophy for 2027 has 3 core
5:24 elements. The first is to
5:25 maintain our court programs
5:27 and services. We want to
5:29 create those programs and
5:29 maintain them that support
5:31 residents, small businesses
5:32 and nonprofits and increased
5:34 accessibility of those
5:36 programs. We want to provide
5:37 funding and technical support
5:38 to help with policy
5:40 implementation. We have a
5:42 number of high profile high
5:42 impact policies. We want to
5:43 help the community be
5:47 successful in complying with
5:47 those policies. Second, we
5:49 want to increase the scale and
5:51 urgency of our work. We want
5:53 to invest in the highest
5:54 impacts solutions and scale
5:55 them and we want to increase
5:56 the efficiency of our
5:57 operations and the speed of
5:59 implementation. And finally,
6:00 we're working to ensure co
6:03 benefits and equity. So we
6:05 want to make sure our carbon
6:07 reduction programs include
6:08 resilience, cost savings and
6:11 other Equity Co benefits. And
6:12 finally, we're partnering with
6:15 other agencies like Tito to
6:16 increase career opportunities
6:17 for priority populations. That
6:19 includes justice involved
6:21 individuals, opportunity, use
6:24 individuals from our nest
6:25 neighborhoods and ensuring
6:26 that people who have
6:26 experienced barriers to these
6:29 careers can access them.
6:34 Equity is integrated as a core
6:35 value throughout all of our
6:37 work. Our Jedi committee is
6:39 very active and is developing
6:40 an equity criteria framework
6:41 that will further and that
6:42 equity throughout the
6:45 organization. We build equity
6:47 into our work through
6:48 programs, project and policy
6:51 design and delivery. That
6:51 includes looking at key
6:52 indicators relevant to the
6:55 outcomes were seeking. For
6:55 example, many of our programs
6:57 have higher support for
6:58 income-qualified households
6:59 when addressing climate risk.
7:01 We look at factors such as
7:03 race age, health conditions
7:04 and more. We use this
7:05 information to target our
7:07 programs, policies and
7:08 projects. So the example I
7:10 want to talk with you about
7:11 and I'll show the the map on
7:14 the next slide is the update
7:15 to our Heat vulnerability
7:17 index. We're out, worked with
7:19 and car and received a grant
7:20 from nasa to look at Denver's
7:22 key climate impacts, which is
7:24 includes extreme heat and air
7:27 quality. And they are working
7:29 to update our map to be a heat
7:33 risk index of the city. And so
7:34 what we look at there is a
7:34 number of different factors
7:36 and I'll show you that on the
7:38 next slide. But we know
7:39 historically that redlining
7:40 and other inequities have
7:41 played a role in making
7:43 certain areas of the city
7:45 hotter. Other factors that we
7:47 know play a role include
7:48 individual or household
7:48 adaptive capacity. So that
7:50 would be social or economic
7:52 resources. Health conditions,
7:53 age and access to cooling at
7:58 home. So this is hot off the
7:59 presses. It is a draft still.
8:01 So this is not final. But what
8:03 it is showing you here is
8:04 which neighborhoods in the
8:08 city have the highest he risk.
8:09 So the dark red areas are the
8:10 highest risk and the lighter
8:12 areas are the lower risk and
8:15 includes 3 different
8:16 categories of factors. So one
8:19 is exposure. The other is
8:22 hazards and finally
8:22 vulnerability. So exposure is
8:23 just the total population.
8:24 It's a population density
8:27 distributed across the city.
8:28 Hazards include the average
8:29 daily minimum temperature
8:30 during JUNE JULY and AUGUST
8:33 from 2014 to 2023, the percent
8:34 tree canopy the percent green
8:36 space and the percent
8:38 impervious surface. And then
8:39 the vulnerability is the
8:39 percentage of individuals that
8:41 are 65 years or older
8:42 prevalence of fair or poor
8:47 health. Median neighborhood
8:47 income percent of household
8:48 with no English speaking
8:49 ability percent population
8:51 over. 25 without a high school
8:52 diploma and percent of
8:54 residential properties without
8:56 cooling. So those factors
8:57 combined and weighted in the
9:00 index show us which areas of
9:01 the city, which households in
9:03 the city are more vulnerable
9:03 to extreme heat and then we
9:04 can use that data that
9:06 information to inform where we
9:09 make investments policies
9:10 projects. This tool is not
9:11 just for cars or we hope that
9:12 this will be a tool that the
9:13 entire city can use. We do
9:15 intend that once this is
9:17 finalized to do a training and
9:18 offer this up to other
9:19 agencies and they can look at
9:19 specific factors within the
9:23 tool to understand, you know,
9:24 if they're trying to change
9:24 impervious surface or tree
9:26 canopy, where can they look
9:28 and how can they target
9:29 different parts of the city to
9:30 increase equity and to close
9:33 that heap gap? I'm going to
9:34 show you on the next slide.
9:35 How we've already been doing
9:37 this type of work in our
9:38 investment. So we do have a
9:39 heat vulnerability map that is
9:40 similar to this that we've
9:42 been using. It's hasn't been
9:43 updated in quite a while. So
9:44 to be great to have this new
9:45 data. But that map has help
9:47 inform a lot of ongoing
9:51 investment. So this example is
9:52 our tree-planting efforts of
9:52 this is not just Kaiser's
9:54 data. This also includes parks
9:57 as well as daddy. But you can
10:01 see here the blue sub layer is
10:03 at the equity index across the
10:06 city and the yellow outlying
10:06 neighborhoods are where the
10:08 majority of the investments
10:09 we've made and tree planting
10:09 across the city. And you can
10:10 see the number of trees in
10:11 neighborhoods listed on the
10:13 right. But North Denver and
10:15 West Amber, obviously on this
10:16 map, some of the areas with
10:19 the highest heat risk. And
10:20 then you can see that we've
10:22 made those investments in
10:23 those same areas through our
10:29 programs. Moving on to our
10:31 agency structure. We have 4
10:32 divisions, climate action
10:34 which focuses on cutting
10:35 carbon pollution through
10:35 electric Haitian energy
10:39 efficiency. Sustainability and
10:40 resiliency, which focuses on
10:41 helping us adapt to climate
10:42 change, impacts and build
10:43 resilience across the
10:44 community as well as or is
10:46 your waist and circular
10:48 economy work reduce landfill,
10:50 waste and and decrease the use
10:52 of single use plastics and
10:54 single-use items as well as
10:55 green workforce. In
10:57 partnership with Tito, our
10:58 communications and strategic
11:01 initiatives. Vision focuses on
11:03 marketing community, outreach
11:03 all of our communications
11:05 and engagement, language
11:07 access and are premature U.S.
11:09 Program, which works with
11:11 community raise awareness and
11:12 and build capacity in
11:15 communities for this work and
11:17 then finally or finance and
11:18 administration division does
11:19 all of our accounting
11:21 budgeting as well as
11:22 administrative functions
11:23 around contracting contract,
11:27 monitoring, etc. So moving to
11:28 our performance metrics, one
11:29 of our key metrics U.S.
11:31 Greenhouse gas emissions over
11:33 time. You can see from 2015 to
11:34 2025. In this is protected.
11:35 These numbers should be final
11:40 soon. Very soon for 25, we
11:40 have a 36% reduction in
11:45 emissions over time. So the
11:45 bottom bar, they're the purple
11:46 is our transportation
11:48 emissions. And you can see we
11:50 have had a decrease from 2.4
11:51 million metric tons of Co 2
11:55 equivalent to 1.9 million. And
11:56 then you will see here the bar
12:00 up from the bottom, the darker
12:02 purple is our natural gas that
12:03 we use in our buildings, the
12:04 methane gas that's used to
12:07 heat our buildings to heat
12:08 water. And you can see there
12:09 hasn't been much change there.
12:10 It's relatively flat now
12:11 that's including growth in the
12:12 city. We've obviously had a
12:14 lot growth over that period of
12:14 time. But we really need to in
12:15 order to achieve our goals,
12:18 shift away from using fossil
12:20 gas to heat our buildings and
12:22 heat water and using air
12:23 source heat pumps crowdsource,
12:25 he pumps district energy,
12:27 thermal energy capturing waste
12:29 heat and using that for
12:31 heating. So that's a really
12:32 critical piece of getting to
12:35 our climate goals over time.
12:35 The real star of the story
12:38 here is electricity emissions.
12:39 They have decreased by more
12:42 than 50% since 2015, primarily
12:44 requirements excel has to
12:44 driven by state policy and the
12:47 decarbonize the grid and then
12:48 finally that little blue Bar
12:49 is the waste emissions. This
12:50 is just the annual emissions
12:53 of methane from the landfill
12:55 landfill annually. We know
12:55 by what's put into the and the
12:56 that waste is a significant
12:59 contributor to nothing and we
13:01 are looking at other ways to
13:03 measure this outside of this
13:05 approach that just looks at
13:05 the annual emissions from
13:10 landfill. This next slide is a
13:13 really interesting story. So
13:14 in order to obviously achieve
13:15 the goals I was talking about
13:16 in the previous slide of
13:18 reducing our reliance on
13:21 fossil gas. We have to
13:21 increase the number of clean
13:22 energy systems that were