An increase in cool roof projects, along with energy-efficient insulation and windows, is in the offing in the wake of a vote by the El Paso City Council to adopt the city’s first climate action plan.
The initiative comes as a study called World Air Quality Report ranks El Paso as the most polluted major city in the country. In announcing that ranking, the report noted that dust storms and heat have greatly contributed to the city’s increasing air pollution challenges.
Compiled by the company IQ Air, which is headquartered in Steinach, Switzerland, the report also listed the southeast section of Los Angles as the most polluted region in the country, due almost entirely to smoke from wildfires there in early 2025.
The officially named Climate Action Plan for the City of El Paso, approved on a 4 to 0 vote by the city council, is the result of research and studies put together by city staff, combined with public input, over the past four years.
Work creating the plan has been supported by $5 million in bond funding approved by El Paso voters in November of 2022. Work was additionally supported via a grant awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2023.
The plan, according to various reports, will offer incentives for residents to install cool roofs, which are typically comprised of asphalt and wood shingles and clay tiles, all designed to absorb less sunlight and thereby reducing the heat of a any given structure.
Additional efforts are calling for the installation of solar power on city buildings, the planting of trees, particularly in parts of the city lacking them, and the building of more electric vehicle charging stations.
Exactly how the various projects will be undertaken or funded is not yet clear. But it is thought that by the simple adoption of the Climate Action Plan, El Paso will become more competitive in both public and private grant funding that can then be used to support the various efforts.
March 27, 2026
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
