FAQs Charleston County Climate Action Plan

Q: What is a climate action plan?
A: A climate action plan is a roadmap for the community to reduce GHG emissions, increase energy efficiency, advance equity objectives and increase affordability for households and businesses. In addition to reducing GHG emissions, it is about making sure the County is ready for and can take advantage of future trends in the energy system.

Q: Why did Charleston County create a climate action plan?
A: The development of the Climate Action Plan was a recommendation from Council. The Climate Action Plan allows the County and its residents to leverage federal funding for a wide range of initiatives. The plan is Charleston County’s contribution to addressing climate change. It describes actions to create new jobs and increase energy efficiency. It also looks at how the energy system is changing and will continue to change and how Charleston County can ensure these changes benefit community members.

Q: What is Charleston County’s role as a leader in the state on climate action?
A: The Climate Action Plan ensures that Charleston County is a leader in the state and in the south in undertaking climate action and advancing equity and economic development.

Q: How are sustainability and resilience related?
A: Sustainability focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions to lessen the effects of climate change. Resilience is essentially the ability to adapt to a changing environment.

Q: What is the risk of not having a Climate Action Plan?
A: There are many shifts in technologies and approaches to energy underway in the US and globally. A climate action plan ensures that Charleston County can anticipate these changes and leverage them for the County’s benefit. It also sets up the County and community members for grants and incentives from the federal government.

Q: How was Charleston’s Climate Action Plan developed?
A: The Climate Action Plan was developed by a consultant, guided by an external advisory committee, the RSAC, and an engagement process with the community. An internal committee of staff experts, sustainability experts, and representatives from other municipalities, the SECAT, also informed the development of the CAP. The consultant used a sophisticated computer model to evaluate the actions.

Q: How was the RSAC created?
A: The RSAC was approved by the County Council in September 2022. Its members include representatives from the Chamber of Commerce, higher education, the BCDCOG, the Home Builders Association, a resilience technical expert, a sustainability technical expert, an energy representative, a County Council member, and a county staff member.

Q: How was the community involved in developing the Climate Action Plan?
A: The engagement process included seven public meetings, nine outreach events, 356 responses to an online questionnaire, four online publications, and ongoing e-newsletters.

Q: How long did it take to develop the Climate Action Plan?
A: 1.5 years

Q: Is the Climate Action Plan based on evidence?
A: The Climate Action Plan uses data on vehicles, energy consumption in buildings and other data sources to ensure that the actions represent information and evidence from Charleston County.

Q: How does this relate to the County’s Council directives and strategic plan?
A: Charleston County Council prioritized sustainability by hiring its first sustainability professional in 2021. Council adopted the Climate Action Resolution to support the education of residents and businesses on matters related to the climate crisis, establish its commitment to climate action by working closely with municipal governments on climate resilience and sustainability policies, and encourage the development and implementation of an equity-centered, community-based, integrated Climate Action Plan. The FY2025-FY2027 County Strategic Plan includes the goal of reducing vulnerability of flood hazards.

Q: What does a Climate Action Plan include?
A: A Climate Action Plan establishes short and long-term goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which cause climate change and creates a list of actions that should be taken to reach emissions reduction goals. The Climate Action Plan includes detailed financial analysis, an analysis of equity, implementation approaches and possible funding sources.

Q: Does the Climate Action Plan include mandates?
A: No, the Climate Action Plan includes recommendations for programs that will encourage efforts to reduce GHG emissions across all sectors, with a specific emphasis on equity.

Q: Does the Climate Action Plan address resilience and adaptation?
A: The County is undertaking a separate plan on resilience and adaptation. Many of the actions in the Climate Action Plan increase the resilience of the community. For example, weatherization of a home makes it easier to keep the home cool during periods of extreme heat.

Q: How is climate change impacting Charleston County?
A: The County is experiencing severe weather events like increased flooding, droughts, hurricanes, and hotter temperatures. These impacts are projected to become worse. The Climate Action Plan represents Charleston County’s contribution to limiting the impacts of climate change.

Q: What is the relationship between the Climate Action Plan and economic development?
A: The Climate Action Plan identifies investments that reduce GHG emissions but also generate financial savings and revenues, create new jobs and create new business opportunities. The Climate Action Plan is also an economic development strategy.

Q: How much money do households and businesses in Charleston County spend on energy each year?
A: In 2024, total energy expenditures were $1.7 billion.

Q: How does the Climate Action Plan impact the economy?
A: The Climate Action Plan creates opportunities for investments in building retrofits, renewable energy, transportation infrastructure, waste management and other sectors. Investments by households and businesses could reach $500 million per year.

Q: What will be the impact on employment?
A: The actions in the Climate Action Plan can generate on average 3,400 jobs each year. These jobs are for weatherizing homes, installing renewable energy projects, installing heat pumps, maintaining electric vehicles, as well as associated services such as finance, law, engineering, architecture and project management.

Q: What is the impact on household energy expenditures?
A: If the actions in the Climate Action Plan are implemented, energy costs for households are estimated to decline from an average of $5,200 in 2020 to $3,900 by 2050, as a result of increased energy efficiency.

Q: Does a climate action plan create new funding opportunities?
A: The Climate Action Plan identifies the opportunity to leverage nearly $150 million per year for ten years from the Infrastructure Reduction Action. It also identifies many other funding opportunities for the County, households and businesses.

Q: Who pays for the actions in the Climate Action Plan?
A: Many of the investments identified in the Climate Action Plan are made by households and businesses. For example, a household that purchases a heat pump instead of an air conditioner contributes to the total investment. The role of the County can take different forms for different actions, including helping people understand the economic opportunity, helping people apply for funding, helping identify contractors and possibly even providing financing.

Q: What is the impact of the Climate Action Plan on equity?
A: The actions in the Climate Action Plan can advance equity objectives in the County. Actions will: reduce energy consumption, which will reduce household energy costs and therefore the energy burden. improve indoor air quality and comfort for homes that are not insulated. increase travel options for low-income families on transit, active transportation and in electric vehicles. reduce the exposure of households to air pollution from combusting gasoline and diesel in vehicles and natural gas in buildings. stimulate new job and business opportunities across the county.

Q: Does South Carolina have a climate action plan?
A: Yes. The SC Office of Resilience developed a Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP) for the state. The PCAP serves as a greenhouse gas inventory and outlines state priority actions. The plan was submitted to the EPA on March 1.

Q: What other communities have a climate action plan?
A: The City of Charleston passed its Climate Action Plan in 2021. The Central Midlands Council of Governments is currently working on a Climate Action Plan that will also be submitted to the EPA on March 1. The City of Columbia passed a Climate Action Plan in 2016. More than 300 municipalities in the US have climate action plans, including nearly every large city and many small and medium-sized communities.

Q: Do other municipalities in the southeast have climate action plans?
A: There are many climate action plans all over the southeast. On the state level, all states except Florida have developed plans and 17 metropolitan areas have developed climate action plans from EPA funds alone. Before EPA funds were available, over 50 municipalities had developed climate plans across the southeast.

Q: What is the role of the County in implementing the Climate Action Plan?
A: The Climate Action Plan is a community plan, which means that households, businesses, and other organizations have responsibility for different aspects. The primary role of the County is to act as the “quarterback”, creating policies and programs that stimulate and support investments by households and businesses, and enable them to access grants and tax incentives. The County may also demonstrate leadership in its own operations.