As Earth Day nears - held annually on April 22 - Oaklanders are thinking hard about how to implement Oakland’s landmark Energy and Climate Action Plan at a time when city and state resources are dried up.

The Oakland plan is viewed as cutting edge because of its aggressive targets for lowering greenhouse gas emissions in Oakland by 36 percent below 2005 levels by the year 2020 – the most aggressive target in the nation. It's unique also because it is the work of dozens of community organizations collaborating with the city to create the plan, rather than the work of just city staff. Indeed, Oakland’s plan has attracted national attention for these reasons.

But as crowning an achievement as drafting the Oakland Energy and Climate Action Plan may be, now comes the hard part: carrying it out at a time when the City's budget is $58 million in the red and .

"Now the real question is how will the plan be implemented," said Emily Kirsch of the Ella Baker Center, the lead facilitator of the Oakland Climate Action Coalition of numerous community groups who contributed to the plan.

Casting at least a small shadow over that implementation is the city’s deficit.

But key players in drafting the plan view the implementation stage both with some anxiety as well as a great deal of excitement. The plan is believed to be able to withstand the ebb and flow of budgets and recessions.

"This plan provides a vision of how the city can position Oakland to achieve a 36 percent reduction from 2005 levels in green house gases by 2020," said Garrett Fitzgerald , the city of Oakland’s sustainability coordinator. The operative word is "position," he added.

"This plan is like a giant 'To Do' list of 150 actions. What the city would need to position Oakland is a lot of complimentary or voluntary actions by individuals and a lot of complimentary actions at the state and federal level," Fitzgerald said.

That interdependence also means that the Oakland plan does not need flush city coffers to succeed. The plan's own language states "Achieving Oakland’s GHG reduction goals will require an unprecedented collaborative effort."

Mayor Jean Quan, in an interview at the Earth Expo last week, said she is not too concerned that the city’s deficit will hold back implementing Oakland's plan because so much of the plan’s success is dependent on individual action.

"A lot of it is up to people, individuals giving up driving one day a week," and similar things, the mayor said. "That doesn’t depend on the city budget. If everyone cuts out one day of driving, we’ll achieve a lot."

The plan suggests 41 actions that individuals can do, from carpooling or bicycling to growing vegetables to collecting rainwater for outdoor water use. It does specifically ask individuals to take one less car commute to work each week and two fewer neighborhood trips by car, noting that 36 percent of Oakland’s greenhouse gas emission comes from transportation on local roads.

But undoubtedly the hole in the city budget will have some impact.

Implemeting the plan "is going to take dedicated funding," said Kirsten Schwind of Bay Localize, a key member of the Oakland Climate Action Coalition. But she added that finding money is a problem for all cities with climate action plans.

She and others propose that the state tax its biggest polluters to create that funding stream.

"At the state level, we need to tax the biggest polluters and create a fund for climate action implementation," Schwind said, citing a remedy popular among environmentalists and public health workers.

Another idea is diverting the utility ratepayer fees collected for renewable energy, or the set aside collected by large utilities like Pacific Gas & Electric from ratepayers, and giving them to independent renewable energy generators. Schwind says PG&E is behind on meeting energy efficiency goals through use of renewable sources. So, Schwind argues, fees collected on its bills should go to other organizations generating renewables. Bay Localize and the Clean Local Power Alliance have been advocating that in Sacramento.

In Oakland’s favor, state and federal agencies that fund environmental initiatives seem to like what they see in Oakland’s plan. Several agencies are willing to fund the plan. Many city residents, too, are excited to take part of such a progressive plan to reduce their carbon footprints.

Fitzgerald said about 29 of the climate action plan's 150 action steps are already funded and underway. Federal and state housing agencies, energy departments and environmental agencies have all provided some funding to Oakland as has the federal Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Kirsch said the fact that Oakland’s goals are so aggressive has actually made its goals more achievable.

"The irony is that climate action plans that are receiving more funding from state and federal sources are from cities like Oakland with aggressive greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. Those plans are attracting grants because the plans are so good, whereas cities with low targets are getting less funding," she said.

The Oakland plan depends on community groups advocating such things as urban gardens or bike riding or protecting children's health to continue their work and have it intertwined with work to achieve the Climate Action Plan’s goals. For instance, biking coalitions can help individuals cut their automobile driving by 20 percent and the urban farming movement can inspire folks to plant and harvest their own vegetables.

Because Oakland is blessed as the home of hundreds of non-profits and community organizations, this collaboration is realizable, experts say. But Oakland is also beset by many needs including more jobs and better health outcomes for its children. Organizations who focus on a specific need will work on the corresponding part of the plan.

"Each group has an area they’re focusing on or organizing around," which makes a cohesive whole for the plan, Kirsch said.

Oakland’s plan is structured to accomplish four goals. One is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the stated target; second is to provide green jobs; the third is to improve the health of children living in Oakland, especially in areas where asthma rates are high; and fourth, to help residents achieve energy efficiency in their homes and thus save money on utility bills.