Community Actions

Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Pierce County

Greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories are used to determine the amount of GHG emissions generated within a specific geographic area. GHG emissions result from activities and choices made within Pierce County. For example, driving a car in Pierce County results in direct GHG emissions in Pierce County. However, the process to manufacture the car also resulted in GHG emissions but were generated outside of Pierce County. All emissions are significant and could be tracked, but most often jurisdictions complete inventories focused on the GHG emissions generated within their geographic area. This plan is focused on actions and tracking of emissions occurring within the geographical boundary of Pierce County.

In 2021, Pierce County partnered with four counties in the Puget Sound region to produce new GHG inventories for the year 2019 and recalculate 2015 GHG inventories using updated methods. The updated 2015 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory is the new baseline for our GHG reduction goal; the 2019 GHG Inventory and future inventories will be used to track progress and determine necessary next steps. Most of Pierce County's GHG emissions come from heating residential and commercial

How are our emissions changing over time?

From 2015 to 2019, our region increased emissions by about 16%.

Key Goal: Reduce buildings, driving vehicles, and removing trees. While the County’s electricity supply is predominantly clean hydropower, approximately 30% is powered by natural gas and coal. Natural gas heating is common in Pierce County and represented approximately 41% of residential and commercial building emissions in 2019.[3]

To meet the County goal of reducing communitywide GHG emissions 45% by 2030, our external community-based actions focus on using 100% clean and renewable electricity, electrifying buildings and transportation, expanding low carbon transportation options, reducing food waste, protecting and planting trees, and conserving land. The following sections detail actions to reduce GHG emissions across six external community focus areas: energy & built environment, transportation, waste reduction, nature-based climate solutions, education & outreach, and growing community capacity.

Sources of GHG Emissions in Pierce County, 2019

Total= 10.8 million MTC CO2e