Finding a coveted parking space in Downtown Austin isn't easy.
Downtown driver Kathleen Yaquianto said she rarely gets a spot.
"I work downtown, and nine out of the 10 times I come here, I can't find parking down here. So, it's really hard," she said.
A group of city employees said they want to make it even more difficult to park downtown, all in the name of going green.
"We're a pretty green city, but we can do a lot more and that's what we're focused on doing," Jake Stewart, with the Austin's Climate Protection Program, said.
The group, known as the Climate Action Team, sent a memo to the Austin City Council and Mayor with a list of ways the city can help reduce its carbon footprint.
Most of the recommendations are internal ones, like buying more alternative energy cars for the city's fleet.
Other recommendations were broader, Stewart said.
"And then some of them were to spawn discussion about bigger-picture items," he said.
Those recommendations included items such as charging more to park downtown, getting rid of parking spaces and adding High Occupancy Vehicle, or HOV lanes.
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Green recommendations
Most of the recommendations are internal ones, like buying more alternative energy cars for the city's fleet.
 
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City Council Member Lee Leffingwell said they will look at the recommendations, but there is nothing on their agenda anytime soon.
"But the discussions are beginning to be generated and certainly HOV lanes is one of the things that we want to strongly consider," he said.
Starting those discussions is the goal of the Climate Action Team.
If the City of Austin actually follows through with the recommendations, they'll have to convince people like Yaquianto.
"I don't think they need to take away any parking spots because it's already difficult enough to find parking down here," she said.
The group also identified City of Austin departments by the size of their greenhouse gas emissions.
Austin Energy and the Aviation Department are on top, and the Library Department releases the least amount of greenhouse gasses.
