This report is the first of three that will provide community leaders, inside and outside of local government, with guidance about navigating their climate action priorities through the gauntlet of challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis. Each document, based on a synthesis of expertise and analysis of local climate action options and current research, will address a different topic: 1. Why local climate action needs more urgency, not less; 2. How the pandemic response creates opportunities and risks for local climate action, and how socially vulnerable populations can benefit from purposeful responses to the pandemic and climate change; and, 3. Which local climate actions should be a priority for federal funding.