Santa Barbara County has a plan — a climate action plan.

The Board of Supervisors approved a plan Tuesday to set new environmental standards for the county. The vote also included a resolution for county staff to investigate whether to include gas and oil companies in the plan.

South County Supervisors Laura Capps, Joan Hartmann and Das Williams supported the plan. Board chairman Steve Lavagnino and Fourth District Supervisor Bob Nelson opposed it.

Capps, who represents the Second District, expressed her desire to make sure the county follows through on the action plan.

“I just go back to my strong, intense desire to make this succeed and make sure that these aren’t just goals on paper, but we really lift up the entire community that’s already there,” she said.

Lavagnino expressed his frustration with the plan and said he wasn’t sure whether the county would follow through with it. He voted for the last bill in 2015 but said he would not be supporting the new plan.

“They can’t just be goals on papers. I guess that’s where I’m frustrated after all these years, because they do feel like goals on papers,” he said.

Nelson said he also would not vote for the plan but that he is committed to engaging and working with the rest of the board on those issues moving forward.

The action plan sets new plans and goals for greenhouse emissions in Santa Barbara County. One of the most prominent goals in the plan is to cut emissions in the county to 50% of what they were in 2018.

The county’s plan is more aggressive than the state standard, which plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 40% of 1990 levels.

The action plan also sets a 2030 target date for the county to achieve its goal of lowering emission levels.

It focuses on six areas, all that reflect issues the county is facing, and that the county will be able to affect directly or work with local partners to influence.

The six areas include housing and transportation, clean energy, water and waste, nature-based solutions, a low-carbon economy and municipal operations.

Additionally, it looks to increase electric vehicle ownership 25% to 45% by 2030 and 90% to 100% by 2045.

The board also discussed the resolution from county staff regarding adding oil and gas companies to the action plan.

The climate plan does not include oil and gas in the cap to lower emission levels. The resolution would allow staff to research what kind of measures the Board of Supervisors can take and how it may be able to reduce emissions.

The resolution came at the urging of local activist groups that pressured the county to include oil and gas in the plan.

During public comment, speakers expressed a mixture of support and opposition to the plan, and claims that the plan did not go far enough.

Nelson acknowledged that some of the speakers were from the north side of Santa Barbara County, where he said the climate action plan may impact people in his district.

“The South County has been developed for years on the backs of oil and gas. You guys have youth centers and courthouses and a lot of infrastructure that was paid for by oil and gas,” Nelson said. “And then now when those jobs are up here, we’re actually being prevented from having those things by the same South Coast powers that received the benefits previously.”

Williams, who represents the First District, expressed his support for the plan.

“The environmental movement is strong in Santa Barbara County,” Williams said, “and to me, what is most impressive is how many times the environmental movement in Santa Barbara has been a leader in being … consistent.”