One of the wettest, dreariest winters on record. Some of the worst mosquitos and bees seen in years. An exceptionally warm, dry summer—including the longest streak of consecutive 90-degree days on record. The worst air quality from some of the worst fires in years.

The past year in Spokane has, to be sure, boasted more than its fair share of weather and climate records—and that’s before we even stop to consider the records we’ve broken in high temperatures, low temperatures, snowfall, lack of snowfall, and everything else in the past decade. As the Earth continues to warm and climate patterns shift, we can expect more of these records to be broken. Absent national leadership, it’s worth asking what can be done locally to mitigate these risks, introduce bold changes, and adapt to an uncertain future.

The City of Spokane, for example, recently passed its first citywide Sustainability Action Plan into law. The document, originally crafted (but never passed) in 2010, finally codifies efforts to further emphasize renewable energy, promote sustainable transportation, improve land use regulations and maximize energy efficiency. It also formalizes the first city-wide carbon emissions reduction goal: 30 percent by 2030.

So how might we do that?

For one, we could promote solar rooftops. Existing city code and the lack of local examples can make these efforts unusually difficult for would-be home solar users. Let’s simplify the code to limit red tape and work with agencies and nonprofits to reduce the cost of an installation so more people can benefit. And in a world where a building is built to last 50 years or more, we should be working with developers to ensure new roofs have the necessary infrastructure to support solar—even if an installation isn’t immediately planned.

Let’s plan for a future network of electric, autonomous vehicles as part of an integrated transportation system. Technologists suggest we could be just a few years away from a green car revolution. Will the charging and power distribution network be ready? And as the rise of autonomous vehicles begins to increase the amount of time in a day that a car is used, let’s reconsider our antiquated parking requirements, which can sometimes result in a sea of parking—or expensive garages—on otherwise developable land.

Finally, let’s incentivize green buildings, such as those which are LEED-certified or of Passivhaus construction. These highly-efficient buildings save property managers significant sums of cash while using less energy—and thus emitting less carbon—than a typical building. Existing buildings can add similar “green” features—such as smart lighting or power-efficient HVAC and circulation systems—at a relatively low cost to boost efficiency.

As the site of the first environmentally-themed World’s Fair, Spokane is uniquely positioned to lead on environmental issues. And our city will be better off and more livable because of it. Let’s take bold action as we step into the future, and meet this challenge together.

Anthony Gill is an economic development professional and the founder of Spokane Rising, an urbanist blog focused on ways to make our city a better place to live.