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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCFE agenda 091018AGENDA Orange County Commission for the Environment September 10, 2018 7:30 p.m. Richard Whitted Building, 300 West Tryon Street, Hillsborough Time Item Title 7:30 I. Call to Order 7:32 II. Additions or Changes to Agenda 7:35 III. Approval of Draft Minutes – August 13th 2018 The CFE will consider approval of minutes from the last meeting. Action needed (Attachment 1) 7:40 IV. Idle Reduction Petition Update Staff will update members on this issue. (Attachment 2) 7:50 V. Fossil Fuel Divestment Resolution Bill Ward will discuss the revised resolution that advocates that the State of North Carolina divest from fossil fuel corporations. Action needed. (Attachment 3) 8:10 VI. Committee Meetings Following a brief presentation, CFE Committees will meet to discuss planning for the 2019 State of the Environment report. 8:55 VII. Updates and Information Items Staff and/or CFE members will provide updates on the following items:  Continuing Action Items from previous CFE meetings:  Updates:  Any other new information from CFE members and staff 9:00 VIII. Adjournment  Next Meeting: October 8th, Southern Human Services Center, 2501 Homestead Road, Chapel Hill CFE Meeting Ground Rules (Adopted 9/12/11) 1. Keep to agenda topic under discussion 2. Share relevant information 3. One person speaks at a time after recognition by the Chair 4. Everyone is invited to participate in discussions/no one person should dominate discussions 5. Strive to reach consensus first before voting Activities the CFE expects to carry out in 2018:  Continue to plan for and prepare the 2019 State of the Environment report  Continue to prepare articles on environmental issues of importance to Orange County, including climate change, energy conservation, and other important topics.  Recommend ways to reduce the County’s “carbon footprint” and ways to implement the County’s Environmental Responsibility Goal (BOCC Priority #10)  Participate in a County effort to identify and preserve important landscape corridors that connect significant natural areas and open space (BOCC Priority #1)  Co-sponsor the annual DEAPR photography contest (The Nature of Orange).  Participate in the County’s annual Earth Evening event. Concerns or emerging issues the CFE has identified for 2018:  Water Supply – Strive to educate county residents about their source of water, especially those residents utilizing groundwater for their supply.  Request the BOCC sign on to the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, which includes committing to completing a greenhouse gas inventory within a year. Upon signing, the committee will assist staff, as appropriate, with the associated Greenhouse Gas inventory update and climate action planning.  The CFE will continue to learn about environmental justice matters and incorporate relevant information and considerations in the next State of the Environment report (2019) and its other activities.  Develop plan for researching potential environmental impacts of the rural buffer.  Develop methodology for monitoring changes in forest cover/land cover in Orange County and also tie into the “No Net Loss of Tree Canopy” petition. Attachment 1 Orange County Commission for the Environment Draft Meeting Summary August 13, 2018 Southern Human Services Center, 2501 Homestead Road, Chapel Hill Present: Bradley Saul (Chair), Alan Parry, Carrie Fletcher, Will Stanley, Lynne Gronback, Bill Kaiser (Vice Chair), Kim Piracci, Matt Crook, Jeremy Marzuola, Bill Newby Absent: Bill Ward, Jody Eimers, Jim Eichel, Laura Doherty, Emily Mixon Staff: Tom Davis, Kim Livingston I. Call to Order – B. Saul called the meeting to order at 7:33. II. Additions or Changes to Agenda – No additions or changes to the menu were requested. III. Approval of Draft Minutes from May 14th and June 11th, 2018 – Both sets of minutes were approved unanimously following the discussion of a few minor edits to the May meeting minutes. IV. Roadside Wildflower Conservation Kim L. gave a brief PowerPoint presentation concerning the history of the CFE’s efforts to assist with the preservation of native wildflowers along the road sides of Orange County, including a 2006 memo that was provided to the BOCC, a 2008 CFE signed resolution, and a 2012 resolution that was adopted by the BOCC. The CFE was asked to resurrect the effort to conserve roadside wildflowers in Orange County. Various possibilities for how to proceed were discussed by the CFE, including the review and consideration of a recent draft resolution requesting local stakeholders “plan, implement, and study roadside and rights-of-way management practices that enhance habitat for native wildflowers and pollinators”. J. Marzuola made a motion to approve the draft resolution, which was seconded by M. Crook and adopted unanimously by the members present. V. Committee Meetings Following a brief presentation on the 2019 State of the Environment (SOE) process, CFE members broke out into their various committees. Attachment 1 CFE members discussed planning for the 2019 SOE including reviewing the list of possible indicators generated by the UNC students the CFE worked with in the spring. The committees reported: Land Resources Committee: B. Saul indicated that the committee had discussed information concerning a request for a “No Net Loss of Trees Policy” for county-owned lands. The group also went through their list of candidate indicators and eliminated some of them. Water Resources Committee: The members present think it is important to make some decisions concerning the format of the report as the format will impact the indicators that are used in the report. The group also discussed eliminating some indicators for various reasons. Air and Energy Committee: A. Parry reported that the committee sorted their candidate indicators and discussed the fact that the software that B. Bouma received from the Global Covenant of Mayors and Chairs may be helpful with choosing indicators as well as the presentation of air quality data. There was also discussion of the value of comparing Orange County data with similar data from other counties in North Carolina with similar metrics. VI. Updates and Information Items  A link to the DEAPR 2018 Photo Contest Winners  A link to the TJCOG presentation regarding the Town of Hillsborough’s Clean Energy Resolution. VII. Adjournment – Saul adjourned the meeting at 9:10 following the unanimous approval of a motion to adjourn the meeting which was offered by A. Parry and seconded by M. Crook. Commission for the Environment C/o Orange County DEAPR, PO Box 8181, Hillsborough, NC 27278 919 -245-2510 Orange County COMMISSION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT Memorandum To: David Stancil, Director, Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation From: Orange County Commission for the Environment Date: May 14, 2018 Re: Response to Idle Reduction Petition from Commissioners Marcoplos and Jacobs At their regular meeting on Jan 23rd, Commissioners Marcoplos and Jacobs petitioned the Orange County Commission for the Environment (CFE) to consider and make recommendations on the implementation of a “no idling” campaign. The target audiences to be considered were the schools and patrons or owners of drive-thru establishments, and the focus was to be a broad informational outreach effort. Secondary interest areas to consider were the establishment of County administrative policy on idling and the engagement of the arts community and students in the creation of campaign materials. After consideration of staff presentations at their meetings in February and May exploring the issue of vehicle idling, available idle-reduction resources, and the initial response of potential partners, the CFE made a series of recommendations. 1.) Since the County’s Sustainability Coordinator made initial contact with both School Systems and has experience with idle-reduction outreach efforts, he should coordinate the County’s idle reduction outreach. The CFE would provide ongoing support for this effort by reviewing the scientific basis of the outreach materials. 2.) The CFE recommended that the Sustainability Coordinator work with Orange County Schools (OCS) and the Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) based on initial statements of shared interest in idle-reduction to write a letter to parents describing the benefits of turning their cars off while on school grounds. County staff will work with School staff to draft this letter for Board consideration and approval. If the letter can be created and approved the June 19th Board meeting, the outreach program could begin in July. 3.) They also recommended that the County move forward on getting some free “Turn Off Your Engine” signs from the NC Division of Air Quality (NCDAQ) to provide to the Schools. The Sustainability Coordinator will support the Schools in connecting with the appropriate programs at NCDAQ. 4.) On the County’s side, the CFE recommends engaging the County’s Community Relations staff to customize and send out some pre-made marketing materials on the benefits of idle-reduction. Pre-made packages of idle-reduction marketing materials were reviewed by the CFE from the US Department of Energy, the state NCDAQ, and local non-profits. Among several communication methods, the County already has some paid advertising slots on WCHL radio that should enable the County to reach parents and student drivers while they are in their cars. This should help to reach both Commission for the Environment C/o Orange County DEAPR, PO Box 8181, Hillsborough, NC 27278 919 -245-2510 target audiences at the schools and at drive-thru establishments. Should the Board wish to provide additional funding for this outreach, increasing the number of lunch- hour and dinner-hour radio spots may amplify the idle-reduction messaging. 5.) Finally, the CFE underscored the importance of selecting indicators that could be used to measure the success of this outreach effort. The Sustainability Coordinator will explore this topic with the Schools. The CFE explored the secondary interest areas of this petition and does not recommend any action be taken on them at this time. A County administrative policy on idle-reduction would be complicated by the need to distinguish between necessary and unnecessary idling of County vehicles including emergency equipment and Sherriff’s vehicles. As for the inclusion of the arts community and students in the creation of marketing materials, the schools themselves indicated that previous similar efforts were not effective. The CFE appreciates the interest of the Board of Orange County Commissioners in reducing vehicle idling to improve the County’s local air quality and lower the County’s carbon footprint. Best Regards, Orange County Commission for the Environment Resolution in Support of Divestment from Fossil Fuel Companies WHEREAS on September 5, 2017 the Orange County Board of County Commissioners resolved that Orange County, the State of North Carolina, and the United States shall transition from a fossil fuel- based economy to a 100% clean renewable energy economy, by January 1, 2050 or sooner to avoid climate catastrophe, to promote job creation and economic growth, and to protect the Earth for current and future generations from climate catastrophe; and WHEREAS climate change and global average temperature increases are primarily due to human- caused fossil fuels emissions, including coal, oil and natural gas, according to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, National Academy of Sciences, American Meteorological Society, United States Environmental Protection Agency, United States Department of Defense, and numerous other leading scientific, academic and governmental authorities both in the United States and internationally; and WHEREAS, “Measuring fossil fuel costs”, a 2015 study by University of Cambridge Judge Business School, reported on 20 fossil fuel companies and found that, while highly profitable, the externalized economic cost to society was also large. The report spans the period 2008–2012 and notes that: "for all companies and all years, the economic cost to society of their CO2 emissions was greater than their after-tax profit, with the single exception of ExxonMobil in 2008”; and WHEREAS after assessing the degree of externalized, climate-change costs by the fossil fuel industry and the proportion of those costs covered by the insurance industry, the president of the Reinsurance Association of America stated, “it is clear that global warming could bankrupt the industry”; and WHEREAS in order to mitigate the climate crisis the adoption of clean energy sources is causing global energy consumption to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Global renewable electricity capacity is forecast to expand by 43% by 2022; and WHEREAS, in a 2016 report, the National Academy of Sciences concluded that it is now often possible to make and defend quantitative statements about the extent to which human-induced climate change has influenced either the magnitude or the probability of occurrence of specific types of weather events or weather event classes WHEREAS, Rhode Island on July 2, 2018 became the first state to sue oil companies over the effects of climate change, filing a complaint seeking damages for the costs associated with protecting the state from rising seas and severe weather. WHEREAS a 2013 study by HSBC, one of the largest banking and financial services institutions in the world, found that between 40% and 60% of the market value of BP, Royal Dutch Shell and other European fossil fuel companies could be wiped out because of stranded assets caused by carbon emission regulation; and WHEREAS the states of Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New York, Washington, California, and Nevada have frameworks for inclusion of the social cost of carbon in their regulatory decisions; and WHEREAS, the economic outlook for fossil fuel companies is compromised by improved energy efficiency, transition to renewable energy sources, the magnitude of their externalized costs, and the potential for stranded assets; and WHEREAS, in January, 2018, after two years of studying these and other deleterious factors and in fulfillment of their fiduciary responsibility, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Comptroller Scott M. Stringer and other trustees of the City’s $189 Billion pension funds have announced a goal to divest New York City funds from fossil fuel reserve owners within five years; and WHEREAS, the North Carolina State Treasurer, as the fiduciary of over 20 funds worth about 100 billion dollars, invests these funds for the benefit of residents of North Carolina; and WHEREAS, the North Carolina State Treasurer's fiduciary responsibility, in accordance with NC General Statutes § 36E-3, requires consideration of expected total return from income and the appreciation of investments and to preserve capital; and WHEREAS, investments in fossil fuel companies are incompatible with the NC State Treasurer's fiduciary responsibility to the citizens of North Carolina. THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of County Commissioners calls upon the State Treasurer of North Carolina to immediately stop new investments in fossil fuel companies, to take steps to divest all holdings from fossil fuel companies and to release periodic updates to the public, detailing progress made toward full divestment; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of County Commissioners send a copy of this resolution to the Governor of the State of North Carolina and members of the state Senate and state Assembly representing Orange County, asking support for institutional divestment from fossil fuels and for this resolution.