Tina Sablan, right, stands with Northern Marianas College student Jude Litulumar, who assisted her with her presentation at the American Memorial Park Visitor Center on April 11, 2024.
TINA Sablan, the governor’s special assistant for climate policy and planning, on Thursday shared some details about the CNMI’s greenhouse gas inventory, the administration’s climate action plan, and an upcoming deadline to apply for federal funds to address climate change.
In her presentation at the American Memorial Park Visitor Center, Sablan said her office was established through an executive order of Gov. Arnold I. Palacios and is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Its mission is to “address climate threats, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and transition to a clean energy, low carbon economy.”
Sablan said the first five months of her office’s establishment were dedicated to creating the island’s first greenhouse gas inventory. She said the inventory helped her office create a Priority Climate Action Plan or PCAP that outlines the actions the CNMI should take to reduce the greenhouse gases it emits.
The CNMI greenhouse gas inventory compiled data from the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, the Division of Customs, the Department of Public Works, CNMI Forestry, and hotel generator usage.
Sablan said the CNMI generates an estimated 443,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide.
She said CNMI electricity generation creates 223,574 metric tons of carbon dioxide while transportation, including road vehicles, marine vessels, and aviation, account for 212,788 metric tons of carbon dioxide.
CNMI forests, for their part, remove about 199,228 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, she said.
According to Sablan, the CNMI’s PCAP will prioritize actions in green electric power, green buildings and infrastructure, green transportation, green materials management and waste reduction, green spaces and carbon removal, and the development of a green workforce.
Sablan said the PCAP will be submitted to the EPA.
The PCAP projects that could be funded by federal funds include the development of an energy master plan and the implementation of a “road map” for CUC; the integration of solar farms; the implementation of green building standards for new construction and renovations; the expansion of the fleet of public transit vehicles and the inclusion of electric vehicles; forest, sea grass, and coral reef restoration projects; and green workforce capacity-increasing projects.
Sablan said CNMI agencies are preparing to apply for EPA implementation funds. The submission deadline is May 1, 2024.
