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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCFE 020904 Orange County lad Commission for the Environment c / o PO Box 8181 da Hillsborough , NC 27278 id Memorandum To : Commission for the Environment From : Mark Smith , Chair Date : February 2 , 2004 Re : February 9 Meeting Agenda Please find attached the agenda and materials for the next meeting of the Commission for the Environment , on Monday, February 9, 2004 7A 30 p . m . Southern Human Services Center 2505 Homestead Road Chapel Hill , NC If you have questions , or will be unable to attend , please contact Carol Melton ( 245 - 2590 , cmeltonC@co . orange . nc . us ) by the Friday before the meeting . AGENDA Commission for the Environment February 9 , 2004 7 : 30 p . m . 0 - 1- 0 1 Southern Human Services Center Homestead Road , Chapel Hill , NC Time Pg Item Title 7 : 30 I . Call to Order 7 : 30 II . Additions or Changes to Agenda 7 : 32 1 III . Approval of Minutes (January 12 ) 7 : 35 07 IV . Report from Board of Commissioners Retreat Representatives from the CFE presented the Board of Commissioners with follow - up items from the State of the Environment report . A report will be provided . ( Attachment # 1 ) 7 : 50 V . Public Outreach — Apple Chill Planning and Brochure An opportunity to discuss staffing of the CFE booth at Apple Chill street fair in April , along with a draft brochure for handout ( to be distributed at the meeting ) developed by the EE Committee . 8 : 10 17 VI . Priority Activities for 2004 For review and discussion both as a whole and in committee breakout sessions . A draft of projected activities is provided as Attachment 2 . 8 : 25 VII . Updates • Air Quality / Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Project • Inventory of Natural Areas Update • Recent Land Acquisitions 8 : 30 VIII . Committee Breakout Sessions 9 : 30 IX . Adjournment ( Next Meeting — March 15 ) ORANGE COUNTY COMMISSION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT DRAFT Meeting Summary January 14, 2004 Southern Human Services Center, Chapel Hill , NC Members Present : Richard Whisnant , Laura Cotterman , Charles Daniel , Julie Tucker , Johnny Randall , Hervey McIver , Annette Jurgelski , Kenneth Meardon , Dan Okun , Richard Pratt , Mark Smith , Rebecca Vidra , Chris Wachholz , Lindsay Wichers . Excused Absences : Cara Crisler , Staff Present : Todd Jones , Information Technology Chief Information Officers David Stancil , ERCD Director ; Rich Shaw , Land Conservation Managers Carol Melton , ERCD Staff ; and Kristin Knight , ERCD Research Associate I . Call to Order Smith called meeting to order at 7 : 35 p . m . II . Additions to the Agenda III . Approval of Minutes for December 8 , 2003 MOTION : Whisnant motioned approval of minutes from the December 8 , 2003 meeting . Pratt seconded the motion . VOTE : Approved unanimously . IV . Resolution of Appreciation — Dan Okun Commission members and staff thanked Dan Okun for six years of work on the Commission for the Environment and his insights particularly on water issues and presented a resolution of appreciation and invited him to continue to offer thoughts and insights to the group in the future . A Resolution of Appreciation was approved by acclamation . Members applauded Okun 's accomplishments in environmental protection and his work on the commission since the 1997 inception . V . Discussion of Public Outreach Stancil said that at the last meeting there had been a good discussion on potential public outreach efforts . There was a consensus of a need to develop a strategic plan for community outreach , including website information , community fairs and other avenues . Stancil said that as part of that discussion members agreed to invite the County ' s Chief Information Officer , Todd Jones , to further explore ways to engage the community with information such as the SOE report . Stancil noted that there had once been a CfE web page linked to the County ERCD web page , but due to irregular updates it was eventually phased out . The current Page 1 of 5 DRAFT January 12, 2004 ERCD web page includes the CfE , what it does , membership and the SOE report . Wachholz added that the CfE would like to learn what the County is doing for public outreach and promotions such as what the Solid Waste Department is doing , and what resources that might be available for the commission to use . Wachholz briefly reviewed the other ideas previously discussed such as updating the tax mailing insert , new brochures , Environmental Summit , community fairs and the SOE report . Jones said that the county ' s Information Technology ( IT ) Department deals mostly with the technology side , is web focused and looks at other opportunities for promotion . He suggested that the CfE may want to consider also talking to David Hunt who is the County ' s Information Specialist from the Commissioners ' office . He could provide help and suggestions for press releases and pre - electronic type media . Jones said that the County " s website is about to undergo an overhaul . The current website is an " umbrella type " site , which lists departments and what they do . It reads like electronic brochures and can be confusing to a citizen trying to find out how to get their well water tested ( for example ) . He said that the IT Department wants to provide citizens with more of the information they need instead of a description of departments . The IT Department will work with departments to understand what types of information and services are offered , and then identify categories of information that citizens may want to search for on the website . Jones said the search engine would provide statistics for customer searches and their success in finding information . Jones suggested the CfE members consider if their desire is to promote the CfE itself or to promote the products , information and research generated by the commission . He said there is more traffic on sites that provide dynamic information for clients , such as the County " s GIS web page where a citizen can find out all kinds of information about a parcel of property in the County . If the CfE wants to generate more traffic they should consider a communication plan ; figure out the target audience and what sort of information needs to be presented . Jones said he and David Hunt could look at that communication plan and give recommendations for how the CfE could promote activities . He also suggested looking at ways to promote the CfE 's activities through ERCD . He discussed collecting feedback information from web customers . Wachholz asked about possibilities of promoting links to other sites . Jones reported that his department is looking at previously set up links that did not work due to updates or changes . The County is considering a new technology called spiders ' that check on links to avoid clients getting error codes . There are also issues to consider about information contained on websites linked to the County website . Members asked if the CfE should direct questions to the IT Department . Jones recommended members talk to Stancil about content and links . He said the IT Department will provide the tools that allow efficient site maintenance . Pratt asked if there is a " live "' helpdesk person for people to get assistance to the website or email a question and expect to get a timely response . Jones said that the technology is there , but staffing is uncertain . A lot of citizens contact the County Page 2 of 5 DRAFT January 12 , 2004 i Commissioners ' office directly or contact the department directors since their contact information is easily obtainable by the public . He noted that there are no formal policies around response time currently in place . Pratt asked if someone could type in their question and direct it to someone with knowledge of the County " s operation who could then forward the question to the correct person or department , rather than having to get on the phone and be bounced around between several departments to find out the answer to their question . Jones said Wake County has a call center where they have staff people taking calls and determining how to direct the call . Pratt suggested having intelligence built into the program reading the emails that automatically directs the person to the appropriate department . Jones said the IT Department will try to identify the most frequent questions received by each department and then build the search engines to respond accordingly . The IT Department will analyze the search results to follow the path of inquiries received and determine whether they were successful in their search for information . Whisnant asked questions about the current software in place to analyze citizen use of the county website . He added that it is helpful to see how people are directed to a particular site . He asked what would it take to get on the front page of the County website , such as " New and Emerging Issues " where the CfE could get the SOE Report highlighted for a period of time . Jones said there is a lot of competition for space on the front page ; there is no formal process for that space . The new website will have a " clean look " on the front page with different search mechanisms and possibly with a banner of breaking news of new accomplishments within the County . Whisnant asked that if we had a page devoted to the CfE , could it include a simple form that a citizen could enter a question and email to staff, the CfE Chair or a volunteer . Jones said yes , it could be linked to an email address or series of addresses , or a form based communication to prevent the harvesting of email address by unwanted sources . Stancil added that the current CfE page identifies Beth Young , ERCD staff person and web site coordinator . He noted that the ERCD receives very few questions or emails regarding the information on the website . Jones also suggested piggybacking with entities such as Eno River Association ' s public outreach on common projects worked on by the CfE . Stancil added that we do link to TLC and appropriate sites . Jones advised to think about a situation where organizations might request links to their sites through the CfE site . Whisnant noted a study report in Popular Government on this subject . Wachholz asked about the budget for promotions . Jones said that IT department has no funds budgeted for promotions , but would be working with advocacy groups such as chambers of commerce to promote our websites . Jones said one of the goals is to make sure that any citizen or business that has an interest in Orange County understands that there is a lot of useful information that they can get to quickly on the County ' s website . Shaw asked if there would be public announcements when the new website goes online . Jones said they would . Page 3 of 5 DRAFT January 12 , 2004 Stancil suggested that the EEI Committee contact Young on how the current web system works . Jones said that the first department websites are scheduled for overhaul and roll out early this fall . He added that he and David Hunt would be glad to meet with the EEI Committee to discuss the CfE 's communications plan . Wachholz asked what could the committee do to further ensure website traffic . Jones suggested testing the current search engine with possible citizen search words and see what comes up . If that information doesn 't seem to be working , IT could work with the ERCD web coordinator to make some changes . VI . State of the Environment — Progress Report 2003 Stancil said that the State of the Environment Progress Report 2003 had been compiled with the CfE comments received . He said that once the CfE approves the report it would be forwarded to the BOCC for their January retreat along with the Advisory Boards Input for the BOCC Annual Planning Retreat form and the Memorandum on State of the Environment 2002 Report Follow - up Actions as approved by the CfE in October . Members made further changes and discussed having a brief presentation at the BOCC retreat . Stancil recapped the discussion including : Introductory paragraph on page 15 , an additional bullet about ozone non - attainment on Page 17 , minor word changes and authorize chair to approve . MOTION : Tucker motioned approval of the State of the Environment Progress Report 2003 with noted additions and authorize chair to finalize . Seconded by Vidra . VOTE : Unanimous Stancil will convey all three items to the BOCC on behalf of the CfE . VII . Updates Stancil provided the BOCC Retreat Form update . Members gave minor edits , and Whisnant requested an additional bullet for the " accomplishments list , " capturing the extensive work by Bradley Decker to evaluate the Environmental Impact Ordinance . Members recalled the status of that project was that the county attorney was to review Decker 's report and asked that it be forwarded to the pertinent department . Stancil remembered that the attorney gave feedback and asked for additional information , which was provided by Decker and had been on hold since then . Cotterman requested that the work accomplished on the Natural Areas Inventory Update project be included under the accomplishments list also . Members also requested to present a Water Resource initiative request at the BOCC retreat . Stancil provided an update on the Air Quality / Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Project . Staff continues to evaluate the six qualifications received . Shaw provided a status report on the update to the county ' s 1988 Inventory of Natural Areas . He said that a first draft of the update had just been submitted to the State Natural Heritage Program . The report included a ) revisions to several sites revisited by biologist Bruce Some , b ) staff edits to the protection status of various sites , c ) format changes , d ) better maps , and e ) revised site boundaries . Shaw Page 4 of 5 DRAFT January 12 , 2004 asked to be on the CfE ' s February agenda to present that information submitted to he state . Members discussed this update being a useful tool to educate people about natural resources and that a summary of the information would be needed . Members discussed the sensitivity of disclosing the specific site locations . Shaw suggested that he seek protocol from the state Natural Heritage Program for releasing inventory information to the public or put on the web . Shaw reported on three conservation easement purchases that the BOCC authorized in December 2003 . He noted that 1 , 017 acres have been placed in protection since the start of the Lands Legacy Program . Members discussed the recent Washington Post articles about conservation easements and the perceived conservation easement politics . Members asked to review the County ' s conservation easement site criteria in a future meeting . VIII . 2004 Projects and Agenda items The following topics were identified for future meetings : • State of Environment Report • Conservation Easement criteria • Air Quality report comparison to Wake County and what needs to be done in terms of Orange County ' s approach • Policy for no net loss of wetlands for future parks sites ( BOCC requested ) • Impacts of sewer line construction on sensitive lands • Local efforts to protect land with funding assistance from the Ecosystem Enhancement Program ( EEP ) • Meeting with other environmental groups such as Durham ' s Open Space & Trails Commission , the Haw River Assembly , and stream watch groups . IX . Committee Breakout Sessions Meeting adjourned after breakout sessions at 10 : 00 p . m . Page 5 of 5 DRAFT January 12 , 2004 Attachment # 1 RETREAT AGENDA ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS January 31 , 2004 Southern Human Services Center Commissioners and members of the staff are asked to bring to the meeting photographs or other pictures of themselves that are at least 20 years old. BREAKFAST GATHERING ( Sa30 ) INTRODUCTIONS/ ROLE OF FACILITATOR ( 9100 ) GENERAL COMMENTS/ OBSERVATIONS ( 9 : 10 ) 1 . FISCAL MATTERS ( 9 : 45 ) Fiscal outlook ( brief staff presentation ) Capital Investment Plan - - Percent of capital dedicated to funding county facilities , school facilities - - Construction management Standards for funding nongovernmental entities Creation of in - house attorney position 2 . UPDATES ( 10 : 40 ) Mental health Planning - Efland Economic Development District, School siting , Comprehensive Plan Land Use Committee Leased space ! Vision for parks - IP Workgroup , Trail system , Timeframe for facility development Economic Development- Strategic Plan , Self-financing bonds , Loan pool 3 . NEW INITIATIVES ( 119815 ) Environmental responsibility goal for county government Social justice goal for County government Creation of Orange Unified Transportation advisory board LUNCH ( 12900 ) 4 . ADVISORY BOARD REPORTS ( 1 : 00 ) 5 . REORGANIZATION FRAMEWORK FOR BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS ( 2000 ) 6 . OLD BUSINESS ( 2 : 20) Commissioner proposals on equal opportunity in education Goals and objectives staff or BOCC wish to modify Campus . of Southern Human Services Center Youth issues 7 . MATTERS RAISED AT RETREAT, NOT PREVIOUSLY SUBMITTED GO HOME AND COLLAPSE ( as soon as possible ) tJ' 0 ORANGE COUNTY HILLSBOROUGH NORTH CAROLINA J�ana9er 's ���ce MEMORANDUM 6sla ls�eolI7S2 TO : Orange County Board of Commissioners FROM : John Link, County Manager DATE : January 29 , 2004 RE : January 31 Annual Planning Retreat With this cover memo I am transmitting reference notebooks for Saturday ' s annual planning retreat . This year ' s notebooks are laid out with tabs that tie back to the major topic headings on the retreat agenda facesheet . Generally speaking , the materials we have provided are intended to serve as " conversation starters " for the subtopics listed on the agenda facesheet . In some cases , we have created new, brief documents that serve as updates on particular topics . In other cases , we have simply provided copies of previously created documents (or updated versions thereof) that may help refresh your memories about topics that have been raised and discussed previously . As you may have noted; at this year' s retreat we will be using the services of a facilitator referred to us through the Dispute Settlement Center ' s network: ious one Geriel Thornburg-May has previously d facilitation work for Orange County agencies , and comes highly recommended by both County staff and by Andy Sachs of the Dispute Settlement Center . I understand that the Chair and Ms . Thornburg-May have discussed her role in assisting Commissioners with the retreat, and that will be covered at the outset of Saturday ' s session . A fundamental difference between this retreat and those of several years ago is a reduced emphasis on the formal goal statement format that the Board has used for the better part of a decade . As them Board has not formally adopted BOCC goalsfor several years now, we discussed with the Chair .that Commissioners may want to bring the most recent set of goal statements prepared by _staff .early last year in. conjunction 'with the January 2003 retreat . We have included in your notebooks an. index of the goal statements from last. year, but not the complete set of goals themselves If you no :longer have your set from last year but' would like staff to provide you with another COPY, Please let us 14iow and �we : can bring that to the retreat: on. Saturday fori.you p '- I me S. . r = _ . The retreat notebooks include- an in of bacicgrourid documents that relate to van sections of the retreat agenda . We have continued the pxactice of the: past two retreats of preparing an "Envirori 01 n. Scan" or "Looming Issues " document to stimulate thought about the County - s work plan and program priorities for the next year or so and to - dexitify sortie staff efforts that may not risen to the level of being forinalized as Board goals , but are nevertheless important and will involve substantial commitment of existing staff resources . As usual , staff plans to make a brief " fiscal outlook" presentation as part of the retreat to report on current and anticipated revenue trends . Handouts from the presentation will be provided at the retreat so you may retain those for future reference . With regard to the conduct of the retreat, we recognize that this is YOUR retreat and as such, should provide as much opportunity as possible for discussion among Commissioners about the topics you have chosen to include on your agenda . My intention is to keep staff presentations at the retreat to a minimum, balancing the need to provide you with relevant information with the need for you to use limited retreat time for dialogue among you . Key staff will be available during the retreat to respond to questions about the topics included on the retreat agenda . Staff and I look forward to assisting you with a productive retreat. Please let us know tomorrow if there are additional background documents you would like us to have available for the retreat on Saturday . AREA CODE ( 919) 245 - 2300 • 688 - 7331 FAX (919 ) 644 - 3004 Ext . 2300 General Environmental Scan of Major Issues / Undertakings Prepared for Orange County Commissioners ' Annual Planning Retreat January 31 , 2004 As the Board of Commissioners prepares to review its work plan priorities for the coming year , staff have prepared the following list ( by categories , but in no particular order ) of some of the major projects , programs , initiatives , or considerations that may affect County operations and /or involve significant commitment of Board and staff time and resources in 2004 ( and in some cases , beyond ) . This list was developed based on input solicited from County department heads and their staffs . We are certainly not proposing that all of these issues be pursued in depth this year — rather , the list is provided as a tool to help stimulate thought about the Board ' s priorities for Orange County government' s work plan for the next year . To keep this substantial list to a manageable and readable length , we refrained from adding explanatory context to . each topic listed . Despite its length , the list is not exhaustive . Staff will be glad to provide additional information to Commissioners on any topic noted , upon request . I . FISCAL/ GENERAL GOVERNMENT • Capital Planning o Examine capital funding policy : percentage for schools vs . County projects ; potential simplification of funding sources /formula o Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance implementation impact ( capacity issues related to state mandates ) o Adoption of updated debt issuance schedule and planning for future debt o Hardware / software/ infrastructure upgrades needed as result of emergency communications study o Possible increase in Public Works operating budget to improve County facility upkeep and maintenance • Adoption of schedule of values ( Oct 2004 ) and mailing of valuation notices ( Dec 2004 ) for 2005 revaluation • Review/ implementation of strategic communications assessment recommendations • Evaluation /upgrading / replacement of legacy computer system for tax and land records County Website enhancements E - commerce initiatives • Maintenance of employee pay & benefit enhancements • Development of 2004 legislative agenda for General Assembly consideration • Greene Tract — open space/affordable housing uses ; reimbursement to Solid Waste Enterprise Fund _ • Possible billing /collection of stormwater fees beginning July 2004 on behalf of Chapel Hill ( inquiry from Town staff) • County/external entity provision of emergency and non - emergency services • Assessment of options for long -term delivery of fire protection services ( associated with declining emergency services volunteerism ) 2 Possible environmental assessment of County operations/policies Construction management approaches • Possible housing wage initiative i. • Homestead Road /CHHS safety considerations • Homeland Security planning , grants application /administration • Economic Development Summit/ Strategic Plan updating • Alternatives for supplemental legal services • Outside agency annual performance report • Completion of full implementation of MUNIS Business System software Implementation of benefits for domestic partners Enhancements to centralized addressing database ( Master Orange Address Database — MOAD ) II . COUNTY FACILITIES Storage space facility • Library • Durham Technical Community College Senior Center Projects — Initiate planning process for Southern in Vt Qtr 2004 ; Northern / Central Orange ( including site location ) in 41h Qtr 2004 • Animal Shelter Relocation — Facility Siting , Design Process , Development to meet UNC timeline • Human Services Centers upgrades • Arrangements after April 2005 expiration of SportsPlex facilities /services agreement Emergency power alternatives — generators and " off the grid " options • Need for expanded /additional Emergency Management space • Justice Facilities development Farmers ' market III . COMMUNITY PLANNING • Comprehensive Plan Land _ Use community outreach activities and update of various Elements . • Public Notification procedures for Comprehensive Plan Land Use Update • Coordination of other Comprehensive Plan Elements with appropriate departments/agencies • Coordination with a consultant to begin preparation of a Unified Development Ordinance ( UDO ) • Intergovernmental coordination and courtesy review with Mebane , Hillsborough , and Durham (water , sewer , and development issues ) • Process and timeliness of intergovernmental coordination • NPDES ( National Pollution Discharge Elimination System ) Phase II decision by the State as to need for county compliance with new rules • Formalization of Forestry contract MOU ( Memorandum of Understanding ) • Review Building Permit fee schedule • Interlocal agreement with Hillsborough ( includes building and erosion control inspection services ) 3 Centralized county-wide demographic database Waterstone proposal — potential impacts Continued collaboration with NCDOT • Monitor evolving plans and potential impacts of Carolina North • Monitor Triangle Transit Authority light rail and related initiatives • Possible creation / start up of Orange Unified Transportation Advisory Board IV . RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND STEWARDSHIP • Lands Legacy Program o Continuation of programmed acquisitions , as per biannual action plan , in concert with partners and on our own o Formalization of program as a Local Government Land Trust o Revisions to program document re : agricultural criteria and stewardship o New public outreach efforts (video , photo exhibit ) • Land Stewardship — Management Plans and Stewardship for natural resource lands and future parklands not yet developed (examples - New Hope Park/ Blackwood Farm , Seven Mile Creek Preserve , McGowan Creek Preserve ) • Comprehensive Plan Elements ( combine Natural Areas , Water Resources and into one " Natural Systems " Element Parks and Open Space ) • State of the Environment Report 2004 ( February 2005 ) • Air Quality Projects o Complete Greenhouse Gas ( GHG ) Emissions Project and o Report on Local Ground - Level Ozone Strategies • Design and Construction of New Parks o Opening of Little River Park in summer 2004 o Plan / construction applications and review for Twin Creeks ( Moniese Nomp ) Park (Town of Carrboro ) o Provide assistance to Recreation & Parks in construction of Efland Cheeks Park — Phase 2 o Design and planning for Northern ( HSC ) Park o Design and planning for Fairview Park o Conservation Planning Project — Adams Tract and Bolin Creek Corridor o Maple View Soccer Field o Lighting Plan for Smith Field ( Smith MS ) — Joint Town /County CUP Modification Permit • Orange County Nature and Agricultural Center • New Water Resources Initiative ( State of the Environment 2002 follow up ) • Heritage and Scenic Corridor Program • Orange County Historic Architecture Book V . EDUCATION Potential merger impacts Proposed " Educational Excellence ' Task Force Potential assessment of school funding efficiencies Possible school capacity impacts related to State mandates on reduced K- 2 class size r ` 4 a� Facilitated school collaboration initiative • Pre- kindergarten facilities/service provision " Smart growth " criteria for schools and related land uses CHCCS High School #3 interlocal agreement addenda OCS Middle School # 3 siting ( and related issues ) • Middle college program • Alternative schools VI . HUMAN SERVICES • Animal Shelter Operations Task Force — Receive Initial Report on Governance ( mid March ) ; Address operational improvements and governance issues in 04 - 05 Budget • Mental Health Reform ( MHR ) — BOCC consideration of critical timelines/divestiture decisions , synergy/opportunities for County human service departments - as confirmed / recommended by the OPC MHR Steering Committee and staff • Human Services Facilities Improvements/ Upgrades — ( Note : These are areas of interest identified by the Orange County Human Services Management Team . ) Whiffed Human Services Center : Parking Lot , Bathrooms , window replacement — Recreation • Southern Human Services Center : Office Space , Reception Area " Little House " on Homestead Campus Northern Human Services Center : Infrastructure improvements , renovations • Carrboro Library Work Group — Recommendations by spring regarding " cybrary" and i. joint use of the McDougle School • Re - constitution of Library Services Task Force = Long Term Location for Orange County Library and Heritage ( archival ) Center • Human Rights & Relations Department — BOCC consideration / re - affirmation of mission relative to OC Civil Rights Ordinance ( County Attorney' s opinion ) ; Possibility to re - incorporate ESL as LEP ( Limited English Proficiency) Program • Cable Franchise — BOCC consideration of formal franchise renewal process and 2004 Rate Order • Substandard Rental Housing Task Force — Recommendations from a preliminary staff work group to be brought back to the Assembly of Governments in the spring • Child Protective Services ( DSS ) — Statewide reform , multiple - response system , local implementation and organizational impacts (With upcoming implementation of child welfare reform , DSS will try to design processes/ programs to address underlying causes of child abuse and neglect . ) • Orange Book — Re - emergence/ reconstitution ; collaboration of Clerk' s Office and County Manager' s Office • Two capital projects of interest and importance to the Human Services Management Team include Senior Center Replacements ( Southern and Northern /Central ) and the Animal Shelter Relocation . • Community Transportation Improvement Plan ( CTIP ) — Completion , BOCC consideration and adoption by spring 2004 ; Policy decisions regarding regionalism and organizational placement • County Facility Use Fees/ Charges — BOCC Adoption ( Parks facilities and County Meeting Rooms , recreation program fees ) ( Note : Recreation and Parks , with its own 5 share of community use facilities , has particular interest in how a coordinated approach can be developed to address necessary fees or charges . ) • Housing Strategy Session — Follow up to Fall Forum Convened by Chair Brown and Mayor Foy with government partners and community based non profits • Interfaith Council (. IFC ) — BOCC Decision on Involvement in the Campaign to Secure a Temporary and /or Permanent , Shelter Location to Replace the Current Location on Rosemary Street in Chapel Hill . • Park Development Contract Award and Park Opening — Phase I : Little River Regional Park , BOCC consider funding sources , conduct dedication — August 2004 . • Initiate Development — Efland Cheeks (with Orange County Schools ) • Continue Park Planning o Fairview Park ( with Town of Hillsborough ) o Northern Human Services Center Park at Cedar Grove o Southern Community Park (with Chapel Hill ) o Homestead Park Aquatic Center (with Chapel Hill ) o Lake Michael - enhancements (with Mebane ) • Resolve Any Remaining Development Differences / Concerns : o. Maple View Soccer Field o Smith Middle School Soccer Field — Lighting , Maintenance , Scheduling o CHATPEC ( Note : All parks - related projects are a coordinated partnership between Recreation & Parks and ERCD . ) Community Health Assessment — Report on Results ( Health Department/ Healthy Carolinians ) and Recommended Action Steps • Primary Health Care Discussion — Report on Recommendations and Any Action Steps ( Health Board / Department ) • Affordable Housing Bond Program — On - going Implementation & Assessment (Approved Projects : Weaver Street Community Housing , OPC Foundation , etc . ) • Land Banking Policy Adoption • Receive Comprehensive Update to the BOCC and Community from the Affordable Housing Advisory Board (AHAB ) • Soccer Superfund Policy Approval and Implementation • Data Storage/ Sharing Among HSMT (Automation Committee ) — Consider recommendations that may be forthcoming to improve report capabilities , customer service , and archival needs • Leadership Council — Review and Endorse revised Governance Structure for the Orange - Chatham Partnership for Criminal Justice (Adult and Juvenile Offenders ) • Grant Funded Positions — BOCC consideration of Human Services Safety Net Funds to Restore/ Stabilize Critical Positions ( EFNEP - Cooperative Extension , for example ) ; Reports on Progress of other grant funded programs and positions • Stabilization of County Assets at undeveloped sites ( Blackwood , Twin Creeks ) • Senior Housing — Survey was completed during the spring and summer of 2003 . Proposal by Aging to host a breakfast presentation to the BOCC and community a report of survey findings during 2 d Quarter 2004 . • Continue and support the establishment of the new non profit , Senior Care , Inc . — designed to operate the Adult Day Health Program and sponsor other services to benefit the frail elderly • Consider support of a Grant Application from UNC Hospital in partnership with Aging to create a Mobile Dental Unit to serve Orange County long -term care facilities and Senior Centers . • enin of the Cedar Grove " mini branch " of the Orange County Public Library — 2 "d Op g Quarter 2004 • Social Justice Goal : Seek further clarification and direction from the BOCC • Federal relief in the Medicaid matching formula is scheduled to expire next year • Slow economy continues to impact Orange County residents ; effects are readily seen in the continued increase in public assistance , particularly Food Stamps and Medicaid cases • DSS plans to expand or implement new programs that can address poverty and other family risk factors ( e . g . an expansion in the Fatherhood Program ) • No federal funds can be used to serve undocumented families or families who have not been in the US for at least five years - DSS still has legal responsibility to protect vulnerable adults and children who do not meet US residency requirements even if no funds are available . • Report/ recommendations from the State anticipated Spring 2004 on public health infrastructure study including accreditation for local health departments VII . SOLID WASTE Implementation of new Waste Reduction , Reuse , and Recycling Fee New Solid Waste Administration Building at Eubanks Road ( need to vacate UNC property ) i Need for effective Storm Debris Management Plan Obtaining C & D Landfill Permit and Constructing the Facility - Selection of site for Transfer Station Examine/ reassess organizational responsibility for convenience center services • Review/ adoption of three - year Solid Waste Management Plan update to State Need for Landclearing & Inert Debris Recycling Program/Site ( provides alternative to burning ) Planning for Recycling in New Residential and Commercial Developments in Hillsborough /County C & D Materials Resale Store Site • OWASA Sewer Line Extension to Landfill Leachate Basin Development of Policy for Increasing Landfill Buffers Possible impacts from municipal interest in " pay per throw" programs - i f ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ANNUAL PLANNING RETREAT January 31 , 2004 TABLE OF BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS Tab Description Comments Reflects Commissioner Jacobs ' s suggestions that BOCC consider policy Excerpt from Draft Minutes of 10/27/03 BOCC matters related to percentage of capital 1 Meeting funds for school vs . County projects , standards for funding nongovernmental entities , and construction managements If helpful , Commissioners may want to 2003 - 2013 Manager' s Recommended CIP bring the previously distributed CIP (previously distributed) document or ask staff to provide another copyo 1 Fiscal Overview ( PowerPoint Presentation ) ( To be distributed at BOCC Retreat) 01 / 20 /04 Purchasing / Central Services Director 1 Memo re : " Construction Management for County- Funded Projects " 1 01 /29 / 04 Staff Working Draft Paper re : " Staff Attorney" 2 Mental Health Update with Attached Points from OPC Area Director Tom Maynard 2 Planning Staff Paper on Efland Economic Development District 2 Planning Staff Paper on School Siting 12/ 17 / 03 Chair Letter to Mayors re : 03/ 03/ 03 2 Proposal on " Planning the Location of Schools in Related to school siting topic Oran e County in the 215t Century" [16A ng Staff Paper on Comprehensive Plan Land ommittee 4 Color Document Summarizing Properties d b County ion for Parks " — Staff Report of Orange y and Orange County/Town Partner Park ts 03 Intergovernmental Parks Work Group t 2 Information on Development of Map Highlighting Recreational Activities in Orange County 2 Information on Planning for Northern Chapel Hill Township Rustic Woodland Trail Addresses topic of economic development 01 / 23 /04 Economic Development Commission strategic plan update , recommended 2 Paper changes to County loan pool structure , and self4nancin bonds Reflects Commissioner Jacobs ' s 3 Excerpt from Draft Minutes of 10/27/03 BOCC suggestions that BOCC consider Meeting environmental responsibility goal for County government . Social Justice Goal — Possible Items Suggested by Proposes a theme as well as notes 3 Commissioners for Inclusion possible areas for social justice efforts 3 01 /28/04 Transportation Planner Memo re : " Orange Proposes function , membership , and Unified Transportation Advisory Board " activities for proposed board Anticipated speakers include : Commission for the Environment — Richard Whisnant Reports from 24 Advisory Boards • Advisory Board on Aging — Jack 4 (as noted at Tab 4 of notebooks) Chestnut • Long Term Care Facility Roundtable — Jill Passmore • Solid Waste Advisory Board — Jan Sassaman 5 Reorganization Framework Materials from Clerk ' s Office 6 11 / 11 /03 Commissioner Brown Proposal on Educational Excellence Task Force 11 / 11 /03 Commissioner Carey Proposal that Every 6 School Age Child In Orange County Has An Equal Opportunity to Reach His/ Her Full Educational Potential 6 11 / 11 /03 Commissioner Gordon Proposal on Steps Toward Funding Equity 11 / 11 /03 Commissioner Jacobs Proposal To 6 Improve Educational O ortunit in Orange Count 12/09/03 Commissioner Carey Proposal To Provide 6 Equal Opportunity For Each Orange County Child to Reach His/ Her Full Educational Potential 12/09/03 Commissioner Gordon Proposal 6 Concerning the Funding Difference Between the Orange County and Chapel HilkCarrboro School Districts and the Issue of Possible Merger Draft Verbatim Transcript of 12/09/03 BOCC 6 Agenda Item Discussion on Potential School Merger 6 Index of BOCC Goals Extract from January 2003 retreat materials ERCD staff assessment of natural 01 /26 /04 ERCD Staff Memo re : " Preliminary Site resources considerations on County 6 Evaluation — Southern Human Services Center property at the Southern Human Services Property" Center campus e Associated with ERCD staff memo noted of SHSC Pro 6 Aerial Photography Property above 6 Conceptual Footprints for other buildings/ parking at SHSC campus 6 Youth Issues Update Attachment #2 POTENTIAL CFE PROJECTS - 2004 Draft — Starter List Project Due 1 , Needed State of the Environment 2004 January, 2005 Research on indicators summer/fall 2004 . Report preparation October-December 2004 . BOCC Environmental ? As yet unknown (report to Stewardship Goal (including BOCC) "No Net Loss of Woodlands for Parks ") Air Quality Report ( Ozone) December, 2004 Six months , ad hoc committee Greenhouse Gas Emissions Fall , 2004 Consultant plus committee Inventory/Action Plan (including CFE members ) Criteria and Standards for ? Add to Lands Legacy Conservation Easements Addendum 2004 Impact of Utility Lines on ? Part of item above (Env Sensitive Lands Stewardship goal) ? Meetings with other Triangle ? Durham OS /Trails Commission, environmental groups Haw River Assembly, Stream watch groups , others Ecosystem Enhancement ? ? Program (EEP) Opportunities OTHERS ? ? ? Additional l hf( � mation Items Commission for the Environment Agenda CLIMATE PROTECTION CAMPAIGN www. skymetrics. us P. O . Box 558 , Graton , California 95444 January 2004 Please route this letter to the appropriate person ifit isn 't you. Thanks! Dear Participant in Cities . for Climate Protection, Greetings from Sonoma County! As a member of ICLEI ' s Cities for Climate Protection, you are on the forefront of the movement to address global climate change at the local level . We are contacting you to : * Request information from you as part of a new project we're working on Share results of climate protection work we've recently done * Pass along information about how to successfully impart global climate change messages �t Request information from you regarding air quality with climate protection We are beginning a project for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to study the integration of air quality and climate protection . , Part of this work includes a nationwide survey of programs that already do this . If your program integrates air quality and climate protection, please let us know. Our phone number is above, and our email addresses are at the end of this letter. * Share results of work we've recently done Sonoma County recently set two national precedents . Because of our campaign, all ten of our municipalities have pledged by resolution to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and all have inventoried GHG emissions for their municipal operations . This happened in less time and with far more support than anyone imagined possible . Enclosed is _ the summary report for the GHG Inventory Projectwe recently completed . This project is creating regional momentum for climate protection, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, saving cities money, improving air quality, and all the other benefits which cities receive from climate protection . A regional approach provides momentum, funding options , and peer support for everyone . The online employee commute survey we developed for the project saved hours of work and enabled us to track commute-generated emissions . The online system immediately converts answers to a brief survey into emissions , gives employees instant feedback about their commute and how they compare to their peers , and automatically compiles this information . Try the free demo at www. s metrics .us 22 The inventory project we created for Sonoma's jurisdictions used consultants and university interns and produced extensive, professional GHG inventory material. We developed an online system so the interns could post . cities ' weekly progress reports for all to read . See project descriptions, progress reports, and supplementary reports at www. skymetrics .us Water and energy efficiency are crucial steps toward climate protection . We brought in experts in water and energy efficiency from around the country for a "Watergy" workshop with staff and elected officials from water and waste management agencies . Workshops such as these add expertise and momentum. to regional climate protection . Pass along information . about "Talking Global Warming" A consortium of national environmental groups sponsored research to identify the most effective way to deliver messages about global warming. We were so impressed by this work that we got permission to put information about the research on our skymetrics website. We encourage you to take a look. There are currently - 150 U . S . cities and counties in the CCP program . We envision a time in the near future when the number of communities committed to climate protection grows exponentially. We welcome information about your programs from which we can benefit, and welcome your inquiries . Please feel free to contact us anytime . We look, forward to working with you to protect the climate . Sincerely, a� �, yin ram, r r Ann Hancock and Mike Sandler ann (@,skvmetrics .us , mike@skSmetrics .us CLIMATE PROTECTION E: Itry 11; . `k Y :: •.+ : o� : � : :-;« " �}�}r�a Ax « <�rktE:Yb-zct Sa •. :<: :" ,Si* '?- < . / i , 1 , , 1 , 1 , rINI 1 — SEPTEMBER 2003 — I .. :..�,,. . . ....v... ...... ... :. . ... ...:...^ .<..,. . . .�,: . . ....,....,... . . �> .. .> .. Y . ., ...... . ...�r r < . . > arx� . 4 . ""3 �' �` 3va3.Tv u' � <s:a uk hL xx nY:}rh t I a 4 Y• f . t A �.S C ` . x ? > ' �'� a;F f=H � � . � ��,� r 3i - � rat• .:� �, �,} t > i a'•w s � 3 . : } '� - . .. � � XS :H: �! � �bfi`� . .�:i '� .-g 3" r � � . :"StR `�s ��� t� < ,�k<� •. it F. .,Y_ . . 'fiat . - Q• � : •.,.. '�h�� �� a� yt '.±apy jF s.3,� -_ 91"� 1 as y � a �. .k r iy . . > }.. ^. .,: w g f v .:.f "> .:n>...: '.S . , 4.> .vr . . ` 'r: r'-. �.:. Y£3" r S,tyflM?{+..y>}'„g<'i ,i!„� . .�'.< r M t0.'2. ,i: .l'w K QY :; . . a. , 9� ->' 9iF•t?i AA }' 2r.<�+ + >'j".• <y:y .<,v„-.... £f :s }r �� }N, � b � )Yi� � �. N. mA a, V , tt.. < ykp ai .,E K '0 lu% .-9?' yt �� . ^i3jvF>Gs T"v<rYf��� _ 7. .w-<<•,'�e. yit: _ s• .: ,-.x. v3" is 'r a' ... .: .•. , Yf a .:t, . .� . r���� ,.�x: �x�-w.z>: 'o f .<,+,a•- ''-��;;,>,,:+.Afr.: .. �Ar,. ,r -.< r.:. s:' ..x ^a• . . ,. � .^ .:.. �� .< .. , .. g ' '> . �_;"�: .s.'+`.n: : `,•°Y`t�. �.',>. .�9.''S:?L-'3 ]�. f't. ,:..aH; . .. . .<J .. , 3f,< . . :. -, . .:.:N: .. . .. >E.. . ,. . . . . .. . .:: �. . r3„: => '^•°�i.`hr, btY � t' ?�'.``�' . :��::;j°e: " ."r��..-. %`.xr.' ' . . x . ;..`�,r•>r:Lri�,.: . .:a•� «,.. :. ? . .,,. :x . .� .,... .....:.::.. . ...,. :.? i .. . .. . .... ., . . . � � �.<..:<. ,,;kk:.er,»^s<x:�f�s. . . ..z}:fxas.t. w.. ._.it.,it>:.. . .,: .. .'h:uf>...Y.u.. ..L. . . .>.........�'F: .. .... . . . . . . v�?.�.....N:. .,,:x . .,:k.�t ...�' ,.,.+,.::::.�...... ....,::.. :.. . . .. ...: ...,. ...,. .....w-. :.:.ft..,.:. ... ..,. As local elected officials, WE ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE presented by global climate change. People gave us their vote and entrusted us to act on behalf of the future as well as the present. We want to inspire people in this community and worldwide. We promise to help create innovative solutions to improve our quality of life, save money, and protect the climate. Please join us in this vital pursuit. Presented as part of a project administered by the Sonoma County Waste Management Agency ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS • County and City elected officials for their leadership and bold vision Summary of key points of this report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 • The Sonoma County Waste Management Agency Board for project Summary of results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 , 2 oversight, Ken Wells, Director, and Charlotte Fisher, Administrative Analyst If garbage trucks could haul 'our .greenhouse gas away, how many trucks would it' talte? ' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 • City staff— listed on the back inside cover—for guidance and re - sponses to our considerable requests Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 • ICLEI 's Cities for Climate Protection for technical support, leadership, Local action moves the world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 and the original vision Energy: The invisible, essential life force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 • Climate Protection Campaign Advisors : Jane Bender, Ernie Carpen- ter, Michael Friedenberg, Mike Sandler, and Alan Strachan How are greenhouse gas emissions calculated ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 07 Buildings, traffic lights and streetlights .8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Production and distribution of this report were made . possible, in part, through the generosity of the following Water and wastewater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 • North Bay Corporation Fleets 10 • Pacific Gas and Electric Company one many thanks alsoto PG & E for supplying city utility records Employee commutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 • Sonoma County Waste Management Agency Solid waste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 We are also grateful for two anonymous donors who enabled us to Climate-friendly practices : examples from Sonoma 's expand the project beyond its original scope . local governments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Fifteen supplemental reports provide expanded Building blocks for success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Information about the inventory results and implications . Bold ideas , a a 6 a a a 0 a 0 0 0 0 4 0 a 9 0 0 0 a 8 a a 15. a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • Analyses for each of the five major sectors in the inventory: elec- tricity and natural gas , water and wastewater, fleets , employee What is climate change? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 commutes, and solid waste FAQs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 • Separate GHG emissions inventories for each of the eight cities : Cloverdale, Cotati, Healdsburg, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Sebastopol, What Can I Do ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Sonoma , and Windsor Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 020 • A description of some bold ideas and opportunities for climate Project team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Inside back cover) 21 protection • A description of lessons learned regarding our project approach This report and the supplements except for city-specific reports GUIDE TO ALPHABET SOUP are available at www. skymetrics . us CO2 , . . . . . . . . carbon dioxide For more information, please contact , eCO2 . . . . . . equivalent pounds or tons of CO2 CLIMATE PROTECTION CAMPAIGN FAQ . . . . . . . . frequently asked questions P. O . Box 558 , Graton , CA 95444 FY . . . . . . . . . . . fiscal year (July 1 to June 30) Ann Hancock, Coordinator, ( 707) 829- 1224, ann@skymetrics . us GHG . . . . . . . . greenhouse gas ICLEI . . . . . . . International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives Ann Hancock, principal author KWH . , , . , , , kilowatt hours Report designed by Merrilyn Joyce, Groton GrophX, gg ®monitor. net SCWA , , , , , , Sonoma County Water Agency Printed by Healdsburg Printing Company ofHeoldsburg, California SCWMA . . Sonoma County Waste Management Agency Photographs on front and back cover: Scott Hess www.scotthemphoto.com SSU . . . . . . . . . Sonoma State University Vehicles on front cover: Jane Bender's Prius and the City of Santa Rosa 's RAV electric vehicle Solar panel on front cover: North Coast Solar Resources www.ncsr com y 4T^ f. ,t. CLIMATE PROTECTION rim 0 4 IN U.1 a rw sa tl "a W "an .-a t... n .. . . . . ... .sn iH . x ,wrA Ise nisw .. `9� gwe % ell nef i • , SEPTEMBER 200311111111111, SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS OF THIS REPORT • Eight Sonoma cities collaborated to , inventory the greenhouse • Community 's next step: Expand climate protection County-wide to in- gas emissions associated with their municipal operations—build - clude all ' sectors—business, residents, and government ings, traffic signals and streetlights , water and wastewater, fleets, • Many opportunities exist for municipalities to both decrease sig - employee commutes , and solid . waste . Last year, the County of ri nificant amounts of greenhouse gas emissions and save significant Sonoma and City of Santa Rosa completed similar inventories for their operations . Sonoma municipalities did this as part of amounts of money, producing far- reaching positive impacts . Cities for Climate Protection ®, an international campaign of lo - • Energy is like spirit . It is the invisible, essential life force that affects cal governments to save money, reduce emissions , and protect every part of our lives . Energy is the nexus between the economy, the climate , environment, and security. If we get energy right, many significant • Sonoma County set a national precedent in 2002 when 100 per- benefits will follow—for ourselves and the future . cent of our cities and the County pledged to measure and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions . Unique features of this Inventory Project • Sonoma County sets another national precedent in 2003 - 100 . Widespread , strong commitment among local elected leaders to percent of its municipalities have inventoried the emissions associ - protect the climate ated with their operations . • Financial support given by the County to the cities for their inventories • Total greenhouse gas emissions from July 2000 to June 2001 for the eight cities ' operations are about 12, 000 tons . Byway of reference, • Close and effective collaboration among the project's many and emissions for the County of Sonoma were 37, 000 tons, and for varied participants Santa Rosa 40, 000 tons for the same time period . • Extensive analyses for electricity, natural gas, water, and wastewater Cities ' next steps : Set emission reduction targets, develop a plan • Web tools created to enhance this project including interns ' online for achieving them , and implement emission reduction actions weekly project reports and web - based employee commute survey he people of Sonoma County %< >«'` ' ' '.;; :. T can be very proud that their H0W TO READ THIS REPORT 'thq :; municipal and County leaders are �r If you want to quickly know project findings, read the keypoints p taking the problem of global CHINNI listed above then look at the results on pages 2 tx 3 and at recom - as . r; mote change seriously, and are A: n Is mendations on page 5 . Otherwise, meander and skip around . Go < g ..<.eww; providing exemplary leadership to to the topics that interest you . Check out the photos and quotes � the rest of the state, the country, from community members shown throughout the report. We hope and future generations , you find passages and facts here that make you think, give you something to talk about, offer you hope, and inspire you to action . Abby Young, Director, U. S. Cities for Climate Protection, ICLEI What we can 't do alone, we can do together. 1 SUMMARY OF RESULTS � • r GHG emissions by city and sector July 1 , 2000 - June 30, 2001 - S � .: _ : ,. r . i . : J " 11• r 5000000010 ' i 4500 1 IF 4000 ' 3500 3000 2500 GIVEN 2000 0 Bldgs & Lights 1500 ,,,,, EEC a 0 MWater . & W/W 100000000 0 Fleets ® Commute 500 i Solid Waste 0 - 500 �,°'�a�\ �J�� �JFa � ,�o�o\ �°�� , gas°� Cotati Healdsburg Cloverdale 1 % � % Petaluma 88, 700 tons eCO2 total 5 % o% City and County operations July 1 , 20M - June 30, 2001 Rohnert Park f . 3% . ti . ti •.00 a % a % @ r0 f9 . ti . f�f , t County of Sonoma ?� 42 % Santa Rosa 45 % Windsor . 194► Sebastopol City of Sonoma % 1 % 2 SUMMARY OF RESULTScontinued Municipal operations—GHG emissions—tons equivalent CO2 IM A y 7 6 O GOMMv - to h C aOy Q v .an O° n E t o c V E > A o c O c O r c c V V a � vAi v�ivOi � FO- Population ' 6 , 831 61471 10, 722 54 , 548 42 , 236 147, 595 7 , 774 9 , 128 22 , 744 150, 565 458, 614 Percent of total County population 1 1 2 12 9 32 2 2 5 34 100 Number of employees FY 2000 - 01 42 39 117 317 175 1161 53 121 112 4900 FY 2001 -02 40 41 117 308 177 NA 53 123 117 NA Buildings, lights FY 2000 - 01 159 185 326 2173 2024 10, 221 285 309 583 15 , 408 FY 2001 = 02 188 177 336 2139 2166 NA 262 288 565 NA Water/wastewater' FY 2000 - 01 3 28 26 185 36 20, 4924 12 48 ' 96 168 FY 2001 - 02 3 28 26 181 36 NA 11 48 95 NA Fleets FY 2000 -01 231 138 527 1578 812 6554 213 343 201 7657 FY 2001 = 02 259 117 488 1411 805 NA 207 332 201 NA Employee Commutes FY 2000- 01 28 112 206 669 245 2712 79 298 142 14 , 000 FY 2001 = 02 27 118 206 650 249 NA 79 302 148 NA Solid Waste - 11 - 13 - 50 - 321 ml45 80 = 23 = 13 - 29 NA Total FY 2000- 01 410 450 1035 4284 2972 40, 000 566 985 993 37, 000 FY 2001 - 02 466 427 1006 4060 3111 NA 536 957 980 NA Recommended GHG reduction target : 330 360 z 830 3430 2380 32 , 000 450 790 790 30, 0005 20% from 2000 by 2010 ' Santa Rosa and the County of Sonoma followed the Cities for CI [- tion@ protocol for corporate GHG inventories . Through this proj- mate Protection® protocol when they inventoried their GHG emis. ect we also made analyses of water/wastewater usage for most sions last year. The 8 cities whose inventories are reported used an Sonoma cities . updated protocol . Therefore, figures from the County ofSonoma and Santa Rosa aren 't exactly comparable, but are included here ' Figures include all emissions from Laguna Treatment Facility that for reference . When the County of Sonoma and Santa Rosa con - serves Santa Rosa , Sebastopol, Cotati, and Rohnert Park . Therefore, ducted their inventories, data wasn ' t available for FY 01 . 02 , The double counting of GHG emissions for Sebastopol, Cotati, and Rohn . County of Sonoma 's inventory included an emissions analysis for ert Park 's wastewater occurs when GHG for all cities is added; the the County's landfill, such figures are not comparable with the GHG overall impact of this double counting is small . emissions associated with figures for cities' solid waste reported in the above table . 'The County has already adopted 30, 000 tons as its target for 2010 . z Figures from 2000 U . S . census data "As foryour • not • foresee, 'These water/wastewater figures represent usage by cities ' facilities but • enable and operations only - not by the whole jurisdiction . This approach differs from the one often followed in the Cities for Climate Protec- 3 C I OFy HAUL O IF GARBAGE TRUCKS COULD UR GREENHOUSE GAS A W A 7 HOW MANY TRUCKS WOULD IT TAKE , ANSWER : About 14 , 783 trucks . Each truck hauls about 6 tons . For Julyed20000 F ¢ ( to June 2001 , here are the number of trucks that would a required ato IF FIFO IF IF I so each municipalities' emissions : ,, ,� II Iv 0 � ¢ 1rIF tt Cloverdale . . . . . . . . 068 :.:: ■ r ` ` "` T w' '� '� s • < or t ,a � S +� OV CotatlIF IF Healdsburg . . . . . . . . . . 173 I . ,,, IFIF ` *IM MI . :< Petaluma . . . . . . . . . . . . 714 a. '•,�.. ,� Y z * - ,a . f • IF 4k . . + - ,. — yy V� � $� �°° i7y1A z I" Y� � o }t� 1 IF F . poe IF % Rohnert Park . . . . . . . . 9495 ► � g Santa Rosa . . . . . . . . . . 6667 � .: � �' � 4 so FIF.IOF. � i Sebastopol . . . . . . . . . .94 rIF Fee s,I . VFFV. IF c , oIF IF IF IF Sonoma . . . . . . . . IF e � • �= g Windsor . . . . . . . . . . . . 6166 �` ver ° " k , � p ` 10 g " 0 ; J . + IF County of Sonoma W° : .so - +' * � � , r i , IF : .. low IF *0 IF IF AW . , - , s • IF IF I IF A to IF Is IF so. IF I. IF : vsIF I III I 03jrf S IF "�' # Rpo � ' . 44 w IF IV IMF IF ., . :. I of M_woo s soi:�.. < k k M ' To t .. x ijoq�. . 4 y ooF , Fodor (:. . . • i �i sm IF n. Poo. I IF / ove Is so IF Is L . ' \,`owF IF GHG GAS ., y rR soroffIFF I --- w.__ . r• For 7 # IF IF IF "oe 4 RECOMMENDATIONS I I nine cities and the County have now completed their ship from Sonoma County Supervisor Tim Smith and Petaluma Coun - GHG inventories for their internal operations—the first step cilmember Pam Torliatt — both are members of the Air District's Board of this climate protection endeavor. The second step is to of Directors — on June 4, 2003 , the Air District approved $ 25 , 000 in set reduction targets . In considering how bold to be in set- funding for the project, scheduled . to begin in Fall 2003 . ting targets, here is some food for thought . Recommendation # 3 : All Sonoma County jurisdictions cooperate with the Air District- supported Countywide GHG Inventory Project . • Although the campaign we follow doesn 't prescribe, Cities for Cli - mate Protection® encourages municipalities to consider a 20 per. Sonoma 's cities and the County are engaged in a wide variety of en cent reduction target , ergy reduction strategies . Careful GHG tracking provides a means to • The Kyoto Protocol set a 7 percent U . S . emission reductions from gauge the impact of their efforts . ICLEI 's GHG emissions software is 1990 levels by 2012 . ( Because of emission increases, a small de - useful and user-friendly. For comprehensive and day-to- day tracking , crease from an earlier year can be more ambitious than a large de- other desirable features of a data system would likely 1 ) be web- based crease from a more recent year. ) so it's readily accessible, 2) facilitate comparisons between cities, and • Salt Lake City has pledged to meet the Kyoto target, to reduce 3 ) support as closely as possible " real time " energy and emissions GHG by 7 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2012 . monitoring . • Scientists say that we need to reduce GHG emissions by at least RECOMMENDATION # 4: All Sonoma County jurisdictions coordinate 60 percent to avoid grave repercussions . tracking of GHG emissions , and by June 30, 2004, adopt a standard • Many promising opportunities exist for achieving ambitious GHG emissions measurement approach that supports energy efficiency reductions in Sonoma County. and climate protection efforts . • To lead by example, cities must continue their bold and visionary action , especially when facing a big challenge . Recommendations that reach community- wide Recommendation # 1 : City councils adopt a 20 % GHG reduction The general plan is the basic development blueprint for counties and target from 2000 to 2010 for their internal operations . cities, addressing all aspects of housing , traffic , natural resources , open space, safety, land use, and public facilities . General Plans for Once the target is set, the next step is for jurisdictions to develop a Sonoma County and its cities should reflect our commitment to plan for achieving their targets . County of Sonoma staff has been climate protection . engaged in creating a plan for meeting their 20 percent reduction tar- RECOMMENDATION # So All Sonoma County jurisdictions direct staff get for several months . They have done this under the auspices of to evaluate actions necessary to ensure their general plan reflect their the County 's Sustainability Planning and Practices Program - SP3 - commitment to climate protection , and target September 30, 2004, initiated by the Economic Development Board . No additional staff to report to the government bodies the results of these evaluations . i or consultants were hired for creating the GHG reduction plan . ICounty staff will provide this plan to cities to use as a template in More than the previous steps, setting targets, creating plans, and im - creating their own plans . plementing programs for community-wide GHG reduction involves Recommendation # 29 City councils direct staff to develop city- spew a greater commitment from residents, business, and government be- cific plans for achieving the cities ' GHG reduction targets, and by cause it expands climate protection efforts from internal . municipal June 30, 2004, adopt a plan for doing so . operations to the larger community. Fortunately, there are many en - couraging examples . Santa Rosa 's water conservation program sig - Last year the Sonoma County Mayors ' and Councilmembers ' As - nificantly reduced per capita water consumption . During California 's sociation of Sonoma County sent a letter to the Chairperson of the most recent energy crisis, residents rapidly reduced energy usage up Board of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District encouraging to 2 & percent . Expanding to the community level requires a greater the Air District to support climate protection in Sonoma County financial investment than the previous steps because of the need to and regionally., This generated a request to the Air District for fi - 9 q involve a larger and broader constituency. nancial support for the Sonoma County Waste Management Agency RECOMMENDATION # 6 : All Sonoma County jurisdictions cooperate to implement a GHG inventory for all of Sonoma County ( not just to identify a process and actions necessary to establish community- the municipalities ' internal operations), and to study the relation - wide targets, plans, and programs , and target September 30, 2004, ship between clean air and climate protection . Thanks to leader- as the date by which the approach for doing so is identified . 5 LOCAL ACTION MOVES THE WORLD n August 20 , 2002, Sonoma became the first county in emissions produced by all sectors in the jurisdiction , or first one the nation where 100 percent of the local govern - and then the other. Sonoma jurisdictions have chosen to " lead by ments—the County and all nine cities—pledged to example, " focusing on internal governmental operations first measure and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions . These local elected officials acted with vision and boldness for The County of Sonoma and the City of Santa Rosa completed their e One—in 2002 . The County also set a resent and future generations . They are part of Cities for Climate GHG inventories—Mileston P Protection ®, a campaign led by the International Council for Local target—Milestone Two—to reduce the emissions produced by its Environmental Initiatives - 1CLE1. Over 550 cities and counties per- internal operations by 20 /o from 2000 to 2010 . ticipate in this campaign worldwide, with over 140 of them in the The remainingeight Sonoma cities decided to work together or United States . They are proving that, Local action moves the their GHG inventories . The County of Sonoma provided $ 25 , 00( world . " for this effort . All cities contributed to the collaboration, too, by pur Local governments follow a program with five steps or chasing custom inventory software and committing staff time . Sever g cities also spent on average $ 4000 each for the project for ICLE Milestone 1 : Inventory greenhouse gas emissionultants, etc . The Sonoma County Wash production membership, interns, cons Milestone 2 : Set a target for emission reduction Management Agency, a joint powers authority in which all Sonom Milestone 3 : Create a plan for meeting the target cities and the County participate, served as project administrato Milestone 4 : Implement the plan SCWMA contracted with Sustainable North Bay which assemble a team of consultants and Sonoma State University interns to in Milestone 3 : Monitor progress and adjust as appropriate plement the project. SSU 's Environmental Technology Center serve Using a personal weight program as a metaphor, a GHG inventory as the project's home base . is like stepping on the scale to find out how much you weigh as the This close and effective collaboration among all jurisdictions in starting point for a diet and exercise program . County to conduct their GHG inventories is unique, and serves a ! Municipalities can focus their climate protection efforts on emis- springboard for further collaboration to reduce GHG emissions ai sions produced by their internal governmental operations , on save moneyNINE IIII III ENERG Y : THEJ INVISIBLE , ESSENTIAL LIFE FORCE nergy is like spirit. It is the invisible , essential life force that Nationwide, reducing global warming pollution can save Am ( affects every part of our lives . Energy is the nexus between cans billions of dollars, according to economic analysts at the 1 the economy, environment, and security. If we get energy lus Institute who released a study of proposed cap -and -trade right, many significant benefits will follow—for ourselves and ergy legislation this summer. Similarly, our GHG analyses show t for future generationslo selected projects in this County are saving up to $ 320 for every ' of GHG reduced . Climate protection 's cumulative benefits are v Economic impacts Climate protection helps ensure our local economy's vitality. It re- Environmental impacts tards the outflow of millions of dollars residents spend every year Energy consumption constitutes a major part of human impact on energy such as electricity and gasoline, never to return . Earth . For Sonoma County, a study done last year found that it t; about 13 . 9 acres of biologically productive land to meet the em On a state level , energy plays a prominent role in California's cur- needs of each county resident. Energy accounts for about 62c rent economic woes . According to a study released at the begin - Sonomans' overall Ecological Footprint, a measure of our iml Wing of this year, California 's energy crisis cost the state as much as on natural resources . For information about the Ecological Fooq $ 45 billion over two years in higher electricity costs, lost business project report, please see Resources, page 20. due to blackouts, and a slowdown in economic growth . continued on pc 6 Putting this in context, if everyone in the world consumed like the caused by the oil industry in Ecuador would never be tolerated in average person in Sonoma County, we would need about four more California . Earths . In France , the average person consumes 55 percent of the energy we do, suggesting that we can both reduce our energy con - Security impacts sumption and preserve or improve our quality . of life . The U . S . dependency on foreign oil is immense; we consume 25 percent of the world 's oil while owning only 3 percent of global re - r : To me the question of the environ - serves . Reducing our dependency will increase our security. w ment is more ominous than that of F peace and war. . . l 'm more worried Although California produces oil—about 300 million barrels per < " ear—our supply does not keep ace with our appetite . In just a k y , about global warming than I am Y PP Y P P PP decade California has increased its reliance on foreign oil from 6 of any major military conflict. g —Hans Blix, former U. N. Inspector' in Iraq, March 13, 2003 percent to 31 percent. Of the foreign oil California imported in 2001 , more than a quarter of it—approximately 15 million barrels--came Our oil imports cause us to export ecological damage elsewhere . As from Iraq . Between 1980 and 2002 , Californians increased their ve- an example, California receives from 20 to 40 million barrels of oil hicle miles driven from 88 billion to 173 billion per year. By 2020, per year from Ecuador. Ironically, the scale of pollution and misery Californian 's demand for oil is expected to increase by 38 percent . 1 HOW ARE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS CALCULATED ? ome people suppose we take air samples to measure green - Caveat house gas (GHG) emissions . In fact, cities ' GHG estimates are This is the first time Sonoma cities have calculated their GHG emis- derived from two main calculations . We total the various sions . The project team relentlessly pursued data to produce solid forms of energy used to support city operations , either di - results . However, sometimes data was simply unavailable . Cities ' rectly or indirectly, and convert fuel totals to GHG emissions . We record keeping differed , making cross-city comparisons problem - ; also estimate any carbon that is sequestered—kept or taken out of atic . If anything , these GHG emission estimates are conservative be - the atmosphere—by city operations . For municipalities, sequestration cause not all municipal activities were included, for example, travel primarily occurs when their solid waste is landfilled . to conferences . We aimed for accuracy, but still expect some errors . As accounting for energy and GHG emission improves, GHG inven - We selected fiscal year 2000-2001 and fiscal year 2001 -2002 for our in- tory results will also improve . ventories . We wanted to use the same year—FY 2000- 2001 —as the County of Sonoma and Santa Rosa used for their inventories . We added Converting energy usage to GHG emissions the second year to capture the most recent full year of data available . To determine the amount of GHG emissions from electricity, we first compiled the number of kilowatt- hours ( KWH ) consumed by each We took several steps to assure the quality of our work . city. Then we multiplied the KWH by an emissions coefficient, a meal- * We followed the protocols, used the software, and received tech - ure of the GHG produced when electricity is generated . We used the nical assistance from ICLEI 's Cities for Climate Protection . U . S . Department of Energy 's emissions coefficient specific for Cali - * Experienced project consultants oversaw and /or implemented in - fornia 's electricity. The result of the multiplication is the pounds equiv- ventory protocol , data collection, analyses, and report generation , alent carbon dioxide ( lbs eCO2), the standard measure for GHG . and reviewed each other's work . Both consultants who performed the inventories for the County of Sonoma and the City of Santa California 's emissions coefficient for our base years was 0 . 73 lbs Rosa were on our project team . Our SSU interns were very consci - eCO2/KWH , low relative to the rest of the nation because our power entious . We sought and received advice from SSU professors re - plants use little coal and oil , the fuels that emit the most GHG pol - garding technical questions . lution . The coefficient for the City of Healdsburg is lower still because * Accounting staff in the subject cities checked the results of the elec- most of its power comes from the local geothermal source known tricity and natural gas analyses for their cities . as the Geysers, and from hydroelectric sources . The emission coeffi - * We compared cities ' results to each other to reveal and correct cient for Healdsburg 's electricity is about 0 . 3 lbs eCO2 / KWH , a data anomalies . continued on page 8 7 _ . I Continued page BUILDINGS , TRAFFIC SIGNAL S , Co P calculation we performed for the city especially for this project . A N D S T R E E T L I G H T S Healdsburg is the only city in the county that is part of a Northern California Power Agency municipally-owned electric utility. nterns categorized the electricity and natural gas accounts Unlike electricity, converting natural gas, gasoline and oth ers fuels we received from PG & E so that they could give us the data we needed in a form we could use . Every account was classed to GHG emissions requires no location -specific coefficient. Regard - using three designations : item , facility, and administrative less of where this fuel originates, when it combusts, the proportion - class . In this way, we could determine which accounts applied , ate amount of GHG it yields is fairly standard . Each fuel type has a for example, to buildings, signals, streetlights; etce corresponding emissions coefficiento ty and nat- Strategies to reduce costs and GHG emissions associated with buildings, traffic signals, and street lights include such approaches ural gas use and their corresponding costs—a massive amount of as retrofitting buildings and switching to light emitting diode data . Using a database program we created for this project, this util - traffic signals . ity data was digested into summary reports customized for each city. Our goal in designing the reports was to give cities information that Full report on Electricity and Natural Gas by Edward C . Myers, Provi - enables them to easily pinpoint areas to both lower their utility bills metrics, posted online at www. skymetrics . us and their GHG emissions . GHG emissions associated with buildings, traffic lights and streetlights Windsor Cloverdale Cotati Healdsburg Petaluma Rohnert Park Sebastopol Sonoma Buildings 1532 144 163 246 95 292 1208 141 229 FY 00 - 01 72 301 1276 1696 133 FY 01 - 02 94 88 Lights 965 492 141 146 337 FY 00 -01 87 90 34 129 147 337 FY 01 - 02 94 89 3s 8 63 470MINE MIMI . MEN WATER AND WASTEWATER he water and wastewater analyses done for this project were more extensive than those done for the other sectors . We This project's analysis will transform 6 : :b needed water and wastewater data for the overall commu- the way we look at water, energy, ni in order to derive figures for internal municipal usage . GHG , and costs . The work carries We capitalized on this situation and constructed a comprehensive important implications not only for water and wastewater systems data our energy and water ef- Sonoma County, but also for Cali - c experience enabled us to use the database to produce sb- fornia and the nation . —Michael ficien y p California Direc phisticated information that illuminates ways to reduce water and Stanley - Jones, tor, Clean Water Fund energy use, costs , and GHG emissions . Will To calculate GHG emissions associated with water and wastewater— cisions about water and wastewater systems will have a far greater mostly for powering pumps and treatment—we determined how impact than decisions about water use in municipal facilities . For m y p p example, a decision about replacing an older well pump wit a nev much energy is used to supply water and treat and dispose of waste- water for each city as a whole . Then we determined the portion that high - efficiency pump will have a far greater impact than replacinc is attributable to its municipal operations—administration buildings, . the toilets in City Hall . police and fire stations, and parks . We found, not unexpectedly, that water and wastewater- related emissions for municipal operations We calculated figures for cities' municipal facilities aterusinu Babe for ig are very small compared with those for the entire city. Thus, city de- data because only this city provided records o 9 8 GHG emissions associated with water and wastewater used by cities ' facilities Cloverdale Cotati Healdsburg Petaluma Rohnert Park Sebastopol Sonoma Windsor FY 00 - 01 3 28 26 185 36 12 48 96 FY 01 - 02 3 28 26 181 36 11 48 95 municipal operations ' buildings and parks . We used the proportion of each city 's indoor and outdoor water usage to estimate the vol - ,:. >xxs g � To protect the environment, I ume of wastewater each produced . For those cities receiving water <F.:: `"«` ` ry">�E = �"�> <> think adults need to think more from the Sonoma County Water Agency, a portion of SCWA's energy ' . ... . about their children and each � �� . . •. . was allocated to them, based on volume . Similarly, for the cities thatq other. Now people are too focused send wastewater to the Laguna Wastewater Plant, a portion of the on themselves . plant's energy was allocated, also based on volume . —Geoff Fisher, Sebastopol, age 14 Regarding ways to reduce GHG emissions associated with water and wastewater, metering and record keeping at municipal facili - ties is recommended to help track the impact of efficiency im - provements, and help reduce waste, costs, and emissions . Looking can help estimate the cost-effectiveness of replacements, and sup - beyond cities ' internal operations to the community level , a rela - port applications for low interest loans from the California Energy i tively easy and cost-effective way to reduce emissions is to replace Commission . energy- inefficient equipment . The database created for this project i Examples of projects that can both reduce GHG emissions and gen- erate considerable savings follow. Upgrades to the aeration blowers BAZARRO Dan Piraro at the Laguna Wastewater Treatment Plant are already saving $ 175 per ton of GHG reduced . Another Laguna Treatment project to up- Our expended faree.2st ITICIU&S0 grade pumps could save $ 290- 320 per ton of GHG . Upgrading the P9 9 ol� a1 WIQrmin � , tie c�t�� sfix hid y County Agency pumps i o� efficient of the main Sonoma Coun Water A enc um s could P..i'1d of the hum� � re . �b�(* to save an estimated $ 320 per ton of GHG . Our analyses also show skies, that landscape irrigation efficiency offers another huge opportu - tq� �e pity for reducing energy use and GHG emissions . Were SCWA to a implement such ever - efficient projects, the Agency 9Y Yj P � 9 Y could be a tovard. "ViromexU conceals . stellar model for GHG reduction among water agencies nationwide . �2C U TIA I Even larger reductions in GHG emissions and costs can be realized by t stepping up to an arena with greater impact—infrastructure . As is true with any construction , optimum performance is realized first in ' ✓ ect j ro the 's design h P g phase . Our database and analyses offer an op - v portunity to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of options for both x SCWA's water supply plans and the Laguna Plant's water capacity projects . In particular, analysis of the data could help identify opti - „� mum ways to balance water efficiency, wastewater treatment ca - n pacity, water supply, and wastewater reclamation, while simultane- f� % ously reducing energy costs and GHG emissions . A joint effort to consider these infrastructure plans with the goal of identifying cost- 1 B � - effective reductions in GHG emissions Ij,�I �RO, CQM � ss ons could help cut through the 8 F 015 complexity of these massive undertakings . Full report on Water and Wastewater by John Rosenblum , Ph . D, Provimetrics, posted online at www. skymetr1cs. us 9 FLEETS o estimate GHG emissions from city- operated vehicles, we Once we totaled the amount of fuel by type, we applied standard ' ties ' fleet records in . coefficients to convert amount of fuel by type to GHG emissions , compiled and analyzed data from c cluding numbers of vehicles, miles traveled , and gallons of As a point of interest, for every gallon of fuel burned , about 20 fuel used . For those cities that didn 't have complete records, pounds of carbon dioxide are released - see FAQs for an explana - we extrapolated to fill in the gaps . For example, if a city had fuel tion . Emissions from fleets were relatively unchanged from one year records for only a portion of a year, we determined a monthly aver- to the next, as the table below reflects . age and multiplied by twelve to use for the year. GHG emissions associated with fleets . Cloverdale Cotati Healdsburg Petaluma Rohnert Park Sebastopol Sonoma Windsor GHG FY 00 - 01 231 138 527 1578 812 213 343 201 FY 01 - 02 259 117 488 1411 805 207 332 201 Fuel costs FY 00 - 01 $ 31 , 450 $ 24 ; 178 $ 661800 $ 226 / 846 $ 1121650 $ 31 , 800 $ 51 ,447 $ 25 , 442 FY 01 - 02 311866 161821 61 , 660 $ 172 , 753 102 , 062 31 , 147 $ 51 , 451 $ 23 , 361 From July 2000 to June 2002 , cities ' fleets consumed a total of 628 , 733 gallons of fuel—the same amount carried by 496 gaso - pl We Americans each have 300 energy slaves, meaning that the line tankersi This fuel cost a total of $ 912 , 507 for an average of work now being done by machines for each of us equals the human power of 300 people. We $ 1 . 45 per gallon . are all profoundly dependent on fossil fuels, tol- more so than we realize; but the most impor- Man strategies exist for reducing fleet- generated GHG emissions . Y 9 g g tant of those fuels—oil and natural gas—are Examples include downsizing vehicles, optimizing vehicle use , in - PFFF about to become more costly due to depletion. J. corporating efficiency into bid specifications, maximizing efficiency, During the next century industrial societies will have no choice eliminating some fleet vehicles, buying vehicles that run on alter- but to run the movie of globalization in reverse: production, dis- native fuels, utilizing public transit, biking , walking , and telecom - tribution, and decision - making will again become local. The muting . ICLEI 's publication , Green Your Fleets, describes strategies sooner we start, the less pain and strain we 'll endure in the process. to help cities and counties reduce GHG emissions from their fleets . Reducing greenhouse gas emissions will help us make the necessary shift.—Richard Heinberg, Santa Rosa resident, Professor of Hu - Full report on fleets by Simon Wooley, SSU intern , posted online at man Ecology at New College of California, and author of The www. skyrnetricsms Party' s Over: Oil , War and the Fate of Industrial Societies . EMPLOYEE COMMUTES tve designed , implemented , and analyzed an online year. We multiplied this average by the total number of city em - survey to obtain employee commutes information . ployees to estimate the total amount of fuel used by employees in We randomly selected a sample of employees from that city. We then multiplied the number of gallons by the GHG fac. each city, excepting Cloverdale where employees self- for for the particular fuel to calculate the total amount of GHG emit- selected to take the survey. All surveys were taken in spring 2003 ted per year by employees commuting to work for the city. We used using the Internet. The survey included questions about modes of the commute characteristics and distribution of fuels used from our transportation , length of commute, and number of days per year 2003 survey for our base years because we had no practical way of that employees commute . Our aim was to arrive at the total gal - obtaining accurate commute data for past years . Ions of fuel by type used to commute . • Changes in GHG emissions FY 00 - 01 to FY 01 - 02 are solely due to From the data, we computed an average fuel use per employee per changes in employee counts . The slight reduction in GHG emissions 10 for Petaluma results from the decrease in this city's employees, who To our supervisors and council members as a group are high diesel users . Cloverdale 's lower percentage of _ f drive alone commuters, and Y . those with short commutes, may re- h.. _ 1 extend my appreciation for your fore- ` � .. flect this city 's survey self-selection process aw sighted action to protect the climate. Cli- �tmate protection is our gift to the future. We compared our results with other commute surveys . One survey t , —Jean Schulz, Santa Rosa resident and � : of Sonoma County commuters shows they average 19 miles philanthropist roundtrip and drive alone 75 percent of the time . Our survey showed an average 16 miles roundtrip and drive alone 92 percent of the I, time . Nationwide average fuel efficiency is 20 miles per gallon; our respondents ' vehicles average 19 miles per gallon . used by the County and Santa Rosa . We designed the online em - U ployee commute survey so that other entities wanting to track comm To check another way, we compared our results with figures from mute - generated emissions could use it . the County of Sonoma 's and Santa Rosa 's GHG inventories . Our re- Employers are challenged to reduce GHG from commutes because sults probably more closely approximate actual emissions because it seems they have little control over how employees get to work. we developed our survey based on lessons from the County of However, there really is much they can do, especially by using in - Sonoma study, and our approach was also more rigorous than those centives . In one study, for example , 31 percent of Bay Area em - GHG # employees tons /employee ployees who received vouchers to offset costs increased their transit Co . of Sonoma 14 , 000 41899 2 . 9 Santa Rosa 21712 11161 2 . 3 use . Ultimately, to reduce GHG from employee commutes we must gradually shift taxpayer subsidies—most of them hidden—from pres- 8 subject cities 11777 926 1 . 9 ent GHG - intensive travel modes to more climate -friendly options . GHG emissions associated with employee commutes o E o YEAR > v c E a o a) c c TOTAL U U = a cn V) Number of employees 00 - 01 42 39 117 317 125 53 121 112 926 01 - 02 40 41 117 308 127 53 123 117 926 Ave . # days commuting per year 221 210 212 206 232 202 210 192 211 per employee - all modes average Percent commute days - driving 74 90 92 99 97 88 97 99 92 alone average Length commute in mi . roundtrip 5 26 15 16 16 13 23 10 16 - drive alone average Ave . vehicle fuel efficiency - MPG, 18 21 17 17 21 18 20 19 19 gasoline average Total gallons of gasoline used for 00 - 01 2408 10263 18436 56167 22449 7229 27099 12923 156974 commute per year - all modes 01 - 02 2293 10789 18436 54572 22808 7229 27547 13500 157174 Total gallons of diesel used for 00 - 01 155 0 476 5306 0 0 184 90 6211 commute per year - all modes 01 - 02 147 0 476 5156 0 0 187 94 6060 TOTAL tons GHG per year 00 -01 28 112 206 669 245 79 298 142 1777 - all modes , all fuels 01 -02 27 118 205 650 245 79 302 148 1774 Full report on Employee Commutes by Dave Erickson , SSU intern, posted online at www. skymetrics . us 11 I . SOLlD WASTE ocal government's solid waste consists primarily of office We characterized the composition of cities ' waste using informat waste such as paper, and waste collected in receptacles at from the California Integrated Waste Management Board . Using parks . Another source is greenwaste —grass, leaves , and efficients in the ICLEI software, we converted cities ' solid wart( wood—from parks and other city landscapes . Too little data GHG emissions . We adjusted these coefficients to reflect that 70 per( was available to make credible estimates for cities' greenwaste, al - of the methane coming off the landfill used by the cities is convei though we made preliminary estimates and determined that green - to electricity. Results of our calculations are shown in the table bel waste is probably a very small part of cities' overall GHG emissions . It may appear that sending solid waste to the landfill helps red The underlying protocol for converting solid waste to GHG emis- greenhouse gas emissions . In fact, this is an artifact of the GHG sions is the most complex of the municipal sectors studied . ICLEI 's counting system we used . Considerably more GHG is emitter inventory approach purposely considers municipalities ' GHG con - manufacturing most solid goods than the reduction from landfill tribution of landfilling the solid waste stream only, and not the GHG For instance, manufacturing a ton of office paper generates 31 produced in manufacturing or transporting the material . Landfilling eCO2 . Landfilling that ton of office paper will only offset about can result in a positive or negative contribution to a city 's inven - tons of the emissions from manufacture, depending again on tory, depending primarily on how the landfill is operated . When landfill operation . However, cities do not count the emissions of r materials containing carbon, such as paper, are buried in a landfill , ufacture in their inventory; this accrues to the manufacturer. TI it does not release green- done to avoi part of the carbon is sequestered , meaning d double counting of the manufacturing emissions v house gas . The remainder of the carbon decomposes to methane, an economy-wide GHG inventory is made . Therefore, the neg a potent greenhouse gas, and carbon dioxide . If the methane were values shown above need to be coupled with the emissions of r is - ufacture to provide a complete picture of the impact of solid w allowed to escape to the atmosphere , the net greenhouse em sions from landfilling would be positive and substantial . However, With ICLEI 's system , the emissions of manufacture are accounte an estimated 70 percent of the Sonoma County landfill 's methane later, when cities take measures to reduce their tons of landfilled is captured and combusted . Toe net effect, according to ICLEI 's ap- waste, by either using less or diverting more to recycling . Either a proach , is that the solid waste sent to the landfill is a reduction , or will then give cities credit for reducing the emissions of manufa< negative contribution, to each city's GHG emissions inventorye and reduce their overall GHG emissions accordingly. To calculate the amount of GHG produced by cities ' solid waste The solid waste GHG reduction strategy of using less , also c streams, we need to know how much and what type of solid waste source reduction , saves the purchase cost of supplies in additi each city produces from its operations . But this data was mostly un - avoiding GHG emissions associated with manufacture and 1 available . Sonoma had lump sum tonnage for all buildings. Rohnert port . Recycling and buying recycled - content items also hell: Park had the most detailed solid waste information , so we used it to cause the manufacture of most solids from recycled stock pros compute a ratio of the amount of waste generated per square foot of fewer GHGs that from virgin raw materials . Any city that decic facility. We applied this ratio to the other cities to estimate the vol - include solid waste reduction and recycling as part of its overall ume of solid waste each produces . We used the same approach to reduction strategy should first establish a measurement metF estimate the amount of refuse from city parks, but this method pro- ogy and a more precise baseline than determined here . Mei duced unreasonably large GHG volumes, so we excluded park re- ments should include both weight and composition of the aft fuse from this analysis . Because we had only 2003 data, we used it solid waste streams . Better measurement means better data for the two base years for our study, FY 2000 -01 and FY 2001 -02 . fectively tracking progress . Estimates of solid waste generated by cities and associated GHG emissions in tons eCO2 Cloverdale Cotati Healdsburg Petaluma Rohnert Park Sebastopol Sonoma Wir Buildings Sq . ft . 16 , 100 20 ,000 74 , 780 479, 446 215 , 879 341390 79 , 507 4 Refuse tons / r 46 58 216 1382 622 99 55 GHG , tons - 11 = 14 = 50 - 321 - 145 - 23 - 13 eCO2 /yr Full report on Solid Waste by Edward C, Myers, Provimetrics, posted online at www. skymetrics .us 12 e.� a CLIMATE - FRIENDLY PRACTICES : EXAMPLES FROM SONOMA ' S LOCAL GOVERNMENTS • Rohnert Park 's Public Works Department uses compressed natu - 1 think people will work hard to make this ral gas trucks . IF :. a beautiful planet. Some things may hap- Santa Rosa 's new blowers at the wastewater treatment facility pen that I 'm afraid of, but 1 think people IF significantly` ' will work hard to kee it safe for us. significantly reduce GHG emissions and energy bills . IFF- IP ``' °f° —Maya Lopez- Sanchez, age 10, Mark O Sebastopol, committed to generating power from the sun , is in1 . OF IF West Elementary stalling solar panels on its city buildings . • The City of Sonoma has a $ 30 , 000 fund for small businesses to • Cloverdale replaced conventional traffic signal light bulbs with help them become more energy efficient . energy- efficient light emitting diodes . e Windsor's employees work four ten - hour days thereby reducing • Cotati 's new police facility meets some of the highest energy commutes, hours of business operation , and utilization of its heat- efficiency standards in the nation . ing , ventilation and air conditioning system . ° Healdsburg is part of a municipally-owned electric utility whose • When reroofing County buildings, the County of Sonoma installed power generation produces little GHG per kilowatt- hour compared " cool roofs " to increase buildings ' cooling efficiency, and incor- with power generators throughout the state and nation , porated skylight tubes where appropriate . Sonoma County Water Agency is replacing gas guzzlers in its fleet Petaluma encourages city-centered growth that curbs sprawl and s reduces GHG emissions from driving, and employs minimum GHG with more energy- efficient vehicles . } emissions as a primary design criterion for its forthcoming waste - a The Sonoma County Waste Management Agency has raised re - water treatment plant , cycling rates community-wide . i : . . } .;. :r. ,. .: :. . , r AFF »%Fj vz;> IF .. . . . . . . .... . . . S. , �s , ::. ,. r. . . v?e. v`%y.T`?'r<:#is„s:;�r.:.�2<..ys; t<2:>i;a -�. Fw f.; . . .. . .. .. �:�: . . . .- . . . . . . <v- .. .v..... . .. wv....... .... . . .� - + .. ... . -..u.,.... . .. .... ... ..:n. .. .. .. .. ..9i. . ....:» .ti"»vy r.,-::,. .. ..,,,.�::.. :. .,.:.,...n'v.`n:w�t.:,: r, i.`;T. S:`i'iY: .x::S.::ES'^;:S:: C�„�i ^ 11 . r. . . . .. ... . .... :::. ...>. . . .,.. 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': : Y . . : . . t I IF x . : „ IF .:.... - 3s � . �� IF F If we want energy security, then we have to reduce our appetite for fossil fuels. There 's no other way. Other issues may crowd the headlines, but this is our fundamental challenge. Big challenges require bold action and leadership. To get the United States off fossil fuels in this uneasy national climate of terrorism and conflict in the Persian Gulf, we must treat the issue with the urgency and persistence it deserves. The measure of our success will be the condition in which we leave the world for the next , generation .—Robert Redford shown with City of Sonoma Council member Ken Brown and Petaluma Council member Pam Torliatt at GHG bill signing, San Francisco, Summer 2002 . 13 i i i BUILDING BLOCKS FOR SUCCESS Commitment mericans invest in their children 's education because God gave man dominion over the of their commitment to help them succeed in the fu - 4 ' land. I believe it is our responsibility IF ture . For exactly the same reason , we must invest in cli - IF IF rrr G� , . to cherish and preserve His gift . . . our IF mate protection . Our children 's long - term well being I. children are depending on us. It gives * x IF IF I me great pride to be involved with the requires our commitment today. As a community, Sonoma County _IF I _ . . ., has embraced climate protection as our responsibility to the next effort to reduce greenhouse gases and generation . conserve energy, while at the some time IF IF I IF making a sound business decision— Sweet spot finding cost saving measures to keep our utility bills in check. Fulfillment of our commitment entails action . The key to effective —Lynn Morehouse, Town of Windsor Council member action is intelligent design . A whole-systems approach that produces significant multiple benefits promises the most positive, significant erations . As described above, intelligent design can produce the impact . The bold ideas described on the next page are examples of change desired—particularly when combined with the strategic ap - whole-systems intelligent design, in which multiple, synergistic ben - plication of the power of money. The fundamental formula is to efits are produced simultaneously—saving money, improving comm charge polluters, and apply the collected funds to reward desirable munity well being, and protecting the environment . behavior. Many compelling examples are given in ICLEI 's book, " Changing the Price Signal : How local governments can use eco- Without taking a whole systems view, we will likely produce unin - nomic instruments to cut traffic and pollution . " tended, negative consequences . Three examples follow. By switch - ing from chlorine to ultra -violet light to treat wastewater at Santa Virtuous cycle Rosa 's Laguna facility, chemical use was reduced but energy use in - Another essential part of intelligent design is funding continuous creased dramatically. If the Marin Municipal Water District uses en - improvement—in this case mastering .ways to reduce GHG pollu- ergy- intensive desalination to augment their water supply as they tion and save money. Once again , intelligent design can create a III virtuous cycle—the opposite of a vicious cycle—where improvement IF feeds on itself and produces more improvement . This can be clo ne Local governments by specifying that a percentage of any money saved through re - F IF 1 the future when we all ducing energy and associated costs goes into a fund to help prospect fightF . global stoTing ' for more energy savings . The City of Ann Arbor does just this, with exemplary results . --0O2 Haiku by Susan Or ®i� e C n Foll the arbo I For years people have searched for ways to measure sustainability. are now considering , they will reduce the draw on the Russian River Following the carbon and reducing GHG emissions guide us toward but will significantly increase their system -wide GHG emissions un - a sustainable future . The more we integrate climate protection into less they develop offsets or employ renewable energy. If we only fo - local government general plans, budgets, redevelopment criteria , cus on reducing GHG emissions, we may resort to nuclear power codes, management systems, and contracting , the swifter we will whose waste remains toxic for at least 250, 000 years . We mustn' t be at bringing forth a positive future for our children . IF settle for flawed solutions . Qur standard must be the " sweet spot"— intelligent whole systems design . Inspiring others As a member of Cities for Climate Protection, Sonoma County and j Price signals its cities are part of an international effort to think and act locally Municipalities rightly lead by example : However, the amount of and globally, just as we were inspired to become a part of this ef- GHG emissions they can reduce, by exerting influence community fort, we can inspire other sectors of our community—schools, wide through policy making is much, much greater than the amount churches, businesses, residents—and can inspire other municipali- of emissions they can reduce by focusing only on their internal op - ties to join , too . What we can 't do alone, we can do together. i 14 ,j CA BOLD IDEAS he whole -system ideas highlighted below go beyond in - strategy offers many ways to improve our local agricultural econ - cremental change to deliver the dramatic GHG reductions omy while protecting open space and significantly reducing GHG climate scientists call for. Whole system design predornk emissions , nantly considers the space between disciplines and insti - tutions rather than within them . The examples that follow are just Climate - neutral power generation a few of the unlimited strategies and money- saving opportunities On Earth Day 2000, Seattle 's public utility committed to meeting available to us . all new power needs with zero - net GHG emissions, using energy efficiency and renewable resources such as wind . If fossil fuels are Community Choice used , the utility offsets the equivalent GHG emissions by, for ex- Last year the California legislature passed a bill called Community ample, offering incentives to reduce car trips . This climate neutral ap- Choice that allows municipalities to aggregate customers within proach reduces consumers' energy bills . The utility estimates that their jurisdiction for the purpose of negotiating cost-effective com - its efficiency investments alone saved its customers about one mil - petitive bids from energy service providers . These municipalities lion dollars per day during the power market turmoil , with no re - can also purchase green power from those service providers who duction in the quantity or quality of energy service , offer such energy. Through Community Choice, local government acts as a buying agent for its citizens . Companies like PG & E would Wind - powered mass transit still deliver energy and collect revenue , jurisdictions that have im - Calgary 's Ride the Wind C - train is the first wind - powered public plemented Community Choice have both reduced their energy transit system in North America since sailboats . Before the switch bills and increased their green power supplies . Community Choice to wind , the train 's energy produced about 20, 000 tons of GHG also enables municipalities to use their authority to sell bonds to per year. With Ride the Wind , emissions are practically zero, mak- finance supplemental energy efficiency and on - site generation ing this one of the world 's most environmentally friendly forms of projects . This approach represents an unprecedented opportu - transportation . nity for local governments—especially those that join together for greater market power—to enact GHG reductions that equal Greenhouse gas emissions are one of or exceed Kyoto -scale levels , IMM the most serious threats to our envi- �� r ronment. The decision to support this Water efficiency for the future 'Y project is a no- brainer. l 'm proud to be New technologies , initial design support, delivery methods , fi - x part of this proactive movement. x nancin and incentive schemes create great opportunities for g 9 PP t — Bob Jehn, City of Cloverdale Council municipalities . The key, as with all whole - systems approaches, member is intelligent, integrative design , open minds, and a long - term view. Such efficiency projects are more cost effective than in - Using market forces to protect the climate creasing water supplies and expanding wastewater systems . Author and entrepreneur Peter Barnes created the Sky Trust, a pro- Combining water and energy efficiency promises dramatic re - posal that caps and auctions off the right to emit GHG pollution , ductions in GHG emissions, water use , and expenditures across This proposal 's fundamental premise is that we all own the sky, and our local economy, especially when integrated with a Community those who pollute it should pay. Money collected by the Sky Trust Choice initiative , would be distributed equally among U . S . residents . Auctioning off emission rights allows market forces to obtain the highest economic Cow- powered climate protection value from the atmosphere 's limited capacity to absorb carbon . The There are approximately 30, 000 milking cows in the North Bay. Climate Stewardship Act of 2003 , legislation now being debated Most of their manure is collected and stored in ponds . The in Congress, embodies many of the ideas in Barnes ' proposal . methane emitted from these ponds represents approximately 170, 000 tons of GHG per year—far more than the collective emis- High Performance Climate Protection: Systems Solutions for Systems sions from all of Sonoma 's municipal operations . A well-established Problems, Edwin Orrett, Resource Performance Partners, offers a biotechnology is available to convert the manure to climate - neu - more extensive description of the first three examples—posted on - tral energy, stabilized nutrients , and other useful products . This line at www. skymetrics . us 15 i WHAT CAUSES' CLIMATE CHANGE . t j he debate is over. Scientists confirm the climate is changing g `' "If 1 could get adults and politicians i due to the increasing amount of greenhouse as in the at- FS Y . Ix mosphere . Americans on the whole believe that climate "' to do one thing, I 'd have them break change is real . A vast majority thinks the U . S . should reduce our dependence on of / and coal. " its GHG emissions . They also want a clear explanation of what causes climate change . —Kirk Tolfa, Occidental,CLIMATE CHANGE Is caused by a manmade blanket P ds the earth 11 years old For nearly all of life on Earth, a balance between energy entering and of carbon dloxide* It.hat surroun leaving Earth's atmosphere has existed . However, since the industrial and trap revolution , the balance has been disrupted , mostly by increased amounts of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel combustion . In the last century alone, carbon dioxide levels have increased by 25 % . At cur- rent rates of fossil fuel use, scientists predict that the carbon in the at will double by 2050 . They also say that we need to reduce J. our emissions by at least 60 percent in less than one hundred years . \� atmospher, a Global CO2 emissions (million tonnes) Year . . . 20 878 v� � 1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 561 1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29575 2020 . . . 36102 The greenhouse effect keeps Earth ' s average surface temperature a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . hospitable 60° . Without it, the average temperature would be about 0 . 4 ° . The greenhouse effect is caused by gases in the atmosphere, World Energy Outlook 2000, International Energy Agency such as water vapor, methane, and carbon dioxide, that trap much The U . S . is responsible for approximately 25 percent of current of the sun 's incoming energy. worldwide GHG emissions . E Global atmospheric concentration of CO2 Scientists predict many changes as a result of I . : . : parts per mllhen (PAm) E the rise in greenhouse gas . For example , by ° 3 the year 2100 California temperatures are } 70 Y forecast to increase between 2 - 9° F. Sea lev- els will rise . In fact, many changes are already 560 . 777 o happening . Alaska's winter temperatures have . 21 risen 8 degrees since the 1960s . Sea levels are 340 o already rising along coastlines worldwide, in- cluding California 's . Some economists fore- ago see that the costs of mitigating the cata - impacts of global climate change will 360 strophic h quickly outstrip our financial resources . AI - S FS sE ';',u.�i � a 3y '���R '£�t �`Y 4' viA is' a 6 a Pi hou h we must adapt to changes already t 9 p 280 -. f " underway, we also must focus on reversing l manmade causes of global climate the ma 9 260 change . The sooner we begin, the better. 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 t9t� 1990 2000 16 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS If a gallon of gasoline weighs only S pounds, how can it pro- How long do greenhouse Average CO2 emissions per year duce about 20 pounds of carbon dioxide when it combusts ? gases stay in the atmos - SUV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 m 10 tons Gasoline consists mostly of carbon , plus a small amount of hydro- phere and trap heat ? Compact . . . . . . . . 27 . 5 mpg . . . 5 . 5 tons gen and a few impurities . When gasoline combusts, each carbon The amount of time GHG Fuel efficient . . . 40 mpg . . . . . 3 . 5 tons atom combines with two atoms of heavier oxygen atoms, produc- stays in the atmosphere Bicycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 tons ing about 20 pounds of carbon dioxide . varies depending on the type of gas . Methane, for example, lasts about twelve years , while carbon dioxide lasts for over a century. How can carbon dioxide that weighs tons float in the atmos - phere and disappear? Are extreme weather events due to global warming ? All substances, including gases, have weight . The molecules of car- As the world warms, some extreme climate events, like the frequency bon dioxide are relatively light, and as a gas, have lots of space be. of heat waves and very heavy precipitation, are expected to increase , tween them and disperse easily throughout the atmosphere . AI - It is not possible to link any particular weather or climate event de- though carbon dioxide gas seems invisible and weightless, it is real finitively to global warming . matter that comprises a huge portion of modern society's waste . Be- cause we can 't see, feel, smell, or taste carbon dioxide gas, we have What is the difference between the greenhouse effect and the difficulty realizing that it's even there, let alone a serious problem . hole in the ozone layer? The greenhouse effect is a warming of the Earth by the gases in the at- Why are greenhouse gases measured In equivalent tons mosphere that surround the Earth and hold in heat like a blanket . of CO27. Greenhouse gas makes our Earth habitable, but too much greenhouse Greenhouse gases have different strengths or effects in their ability gas, like too many blankets, can make the Earth unbearable . The hole to trap heat . Converting emissions to the equivalent amount of car- in the ozone layer, also known as global depletion of stratospheric bon dioxide allows for comparisons between greenhouse gases of ozone, is caused by a type of greenhouse gas called chlorofluorocar- varying strengths . For instance, methane is twenty-one times more bons (CFCs ), used in refrigeration, air conditioning, and as solvents . powerful than carbon dioxide in its capacity to trap heat, Therefore CFCs are being phased out under the Montreal Protocol, an interna - 1 ton of methane is considered equal to 21 tons of carbon dioxide . tional agreement. Because of the success of the Montreal Protocol, many scientists predict that the hole in the ozone layer will shrink . What are the primary greenhouse gases humans emit ? The Montreal Protocol is a good example of what countries can do They are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocar- when they work together for mutual benefit. The same can be done bons , perfluorocarbons, and sulphur hexafluoride . Carbon dioxide for global climate change . is the most prevalent and has the most cumulative impact of these gases . It represents over 80 percent of GHG emissions in the U . S . What is the Kyoto Protocol ? What human activities contribute to climate change ? In 1997, at Kyoto, Japan , representatives of leading industrialized countries responsible for over 90 per cent of global warming, agreed The combustion of coal, oil, to reduce their GHG emissions by five per cent from 1990 levels . The and natural gas, as well as Sources of U . S . GHG emissions U . S . , responsible for one-quarter of the worlds total greenhouse gas deforestation and various Electricity generation . . . . . 37 % • Vehicles . o emissions, initially accepted but later rejected the agreement. Many agricultural and industrial . 31 /o o experts believe that without U . S . parti /o practices , are altering the Industry . . . . . 21 cipation , the Kyoto Protocol . . . . . . . . . . Other 9 a 0 a 5 0 . . . . . . 6 $ 11 % cannot accomplish its objectives , composition of the atmos - phere and changing the climate . If the U . S . were to sign the Kyoto Protocol, by how much would we need to reduce our GHG emissions? How much of the carbon dioxide being added to the atmos. Under terms of the Kyoto Protocol, the U . S . would reduce its emis - phere is from the use of fossil fuel ? sions by 7 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2012 . This would be About 80 to 85 % of the CO2 being added to the atmosphere comes quite a challenge because, according to the U . S . Environmental Pro . from current fossil fuel use . tection Agency, this country's emissions increased by 14 . 2 percent from 1990 to 2000 . continued on page 18 17 ` � FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS continued from page17 How does climate change differ from other environmental problems ? We should take global warming Unlike most environmental issues where we usually have to pay to seriously, but ourselves lightly. Doom and loom is no fun. Doing clean up things , with climate change, we can attack the problem M 9 save money at the same time . right by the planet can be. and y How does California 's electric use compare with the rest of —Bob Anderson, Sebastopol City the nation ? Council member. Shown with him is Ann Hancock, Project Man- Before 1976 Californians used almost as much electricity per capita ager. Both are Certified Laughter Club Leaders. as the rest of the country. These days we use 40 percent less, largely the result of appliance and building efficiency standards developed and implemented by the California Energy Commission since 1976 . This example demonstrates what is possible when there is concerted Why should we do anything about climate change ? Isn ' t it action to achieve a goal . all hopeless ? It often seems hopeless . However, there are many compelling rea - If these GHG inventories are for municipalities ' internal op- sons to take action , eration only, what about the emissions for Sonoma County as ° Action is the antidote for negative feelings . a whole ? • Action helps protect us from irreversible environmental impacts . The Climate Protection Cam - 40, 000 tons of CO2—the ap- . Responsible leadership requires action . paign will soon be conduct- proximate amount of GHG emitted b Santa Rosa 's ° Climate protection saves money. ing a GHG inventory for y municipal operations in • Climate protection leaves a legacy for future generations who Sonoma County as a whole, thanks to the support of the one year—represents a vol- otherwise will bear unconscionable consequences . Bay Area Air Quality Man - ume a mile in diameter • The burdens of climate change fall on the poorest while its causes agement District . and nearly 6 feet thick. are mostly from the wealthiest . Therefore , climate protection helps rectify social inequity. Can businesses, schools, churches, households, and individu- . Climate protection helps species impacted by global warming als calculate their GHG emissions ? worldwide . Yes . Find resources for doing so on page 20 of this report. • Climate protection produces many side benefits, for example, cleaner air, more walkable and livable cities, more investment in Is climate protection a local issue ? public transportation and public health , and more beneficial tech - Nlhat can local action really do ? Municipalities have regulatory authority over many direct and indi- nological innovation . issions, for example, land - use, • Why settle for small ? Take on one of the biggest challenges ever. rect sources of greenhouse gas em zoning, transportation , parking , landfills, building codes, and pro- curement policies . Cumulatively, cities exert great influence over the amount of GHG emitted worldwide . , , • us to tackle . ch mate change . Average CO2 emissions per year " ' " SUV . 15 mpg 10 tons O " ' ble ' " pp ions . . . . . . . prevent and protect, Compact . . . . . . . . 27 . 5 mpg . . . 5 . 5 tons adopt. will thank us ns Fuel efficient . . . 40 mpg . . . . . 3 . 5 tons erati ' tomorrow Bicycle 0 tons IJ for today.what we do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 O ? WHAT CAN I D ongratulate yourself and anyone else who asks this Make presentations to groups like the Chamber of Commerce question . History shows that individuals can make a dif- and Rotary Club about how businesses can save money, lower ference . In fact, it's only individuals who change the world . energy bills, and protect the climate - We do so by inspiring others to act . • Join the California Climate Registry • Lobby your industry to change its practices ; encourage GHG The list below focuses on whole -system strategies for climate pro - accounting tection to emphasize their importance, and because those that focus on changing individual consumption habits, like recycling and us - r : ni ing compact fluorescent bulbs, are already relatively well known . J5 Sonoma County is in the midst Shifting our focus from individual consumption habits to the large - s of making history. scale system changes is needed to dramatically reduce GHG pollu - a ` tion . Whether you have a little or a lot of time , everyone can do something , yIffyI . — Bogdan Uasi, Cornell Univer- sity climate protection researcher :./.,f': :: y:ti •:".;: ;k%: try 4' foi::... � Ciyh'iN� Learn and reflect, talk and listentab Check out resources listed at end of this report • Talk to others about climate protection —talk is not cheap • Join or form study groups; help educate others Government Speak up m Thank jurisdictions for joining Cities for Climate Protection, and • Write letters to the editor of newspapers and to elected repre - encourage others to do so sentatives I I ® Help elect people who will protect the climate • Make presentations • °Ask people for money and give it to groups making a difference Encourage walkable, mixed use development with nearby pub- • Encourage others es eciall young people, to speak u lic transportation , stores, schools, etc . —to minimize sprawl and g p y y g P P P P the need to drive Schools m Adopt green building guidelines and codes, and reward devel - • Help schools reduce their energy use, and measure and reduce opment teams who follow them their GHG emissions ° Reward resource efficiency and conservation among utility users • Encourage your district to have all its schools participate in en - a Develop local control over your energy system and make the ergy- saving programs shift to energy efficiency and renewable power • Help school building and remodeling demonstrate the highest standards for energy and water efficiency Encourage public entities to mandate a Renewable Portfolio • Green your fleet (This applies to business and government, too . ) Standard ( RPS ) of at least 20 % renewable electricity • Create programs that offer staff and students incentives for walk- Help eliminate government subsidies for fossil fuel and increase ing , bicycling , riding the bus, etc . ; enact parking fees (This ap - subsidies for energy efficiency and renewable energy plies to all sectors on this page . ) ° Encourage the U . S . government to ratify the Kyoto Protocol • Change the tax system to reward actions that protect the climate, Business and penalize those that don 't • Develop a company-wide Environmental Management System • Form a water and energy efficiency task force • Make a pledge to reduce GHG emissions, meet a target, then set What is essential a new targets encourage other companies to do the same is invisible to the eye. • Adopt policies to require suppliers and vendors to adhere to energy efficiency practices —Antoine de Saint- Exupery • Ask your bank to favor projects that emit fewer GHGs 19 REFERENCES & RESOURCES The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives—ICLEI , Interfaith Power and Light www. Interfaith power. org— Resources Cities for Climate Protection , ww %v. iclel . org / us Premier resource for faith - based institutions and leader for local governments involved in climate protection . Ex- amples of some of their publications include, Best Practices for Cli- Calculator to determine your personal greenhouse gas emissions mate Protection : A Local Government Guide; Changing the Price Sig- www. americanforests . org nal. How local governments can use economic instruments to cut trdtFic and pollution; and Green Your Fleet. BOOKS, REPORTS, AND OTHER WEBSITES Contraction and Convergence: The Global Solution to Climate Change, Climate Protection Campaign www. skymetrics . us Hub for climate Aubrey Meyer, © 2000, Schumacher Briefings protection activities in Sonoma County, The Party 's Over: Oil, War, and the Fate of Industrial Societies, Sonoma County Waste Management Agency www. recyclenow. org Richard Heinberg , © 2003 , New Society Publishers Administrator for municipalities ' climate protection collaboration Power Shift, a special edition of Grist, an online magazine that Sonoma County Business Environmental Alliance www. sonoma looks at efforts to combat climate change , July 31 , 2002 , .county . orq / bea Promotes economic benefits of responsible www, gristmagazine . com / maindish / powershiftO73102 . asp environmental practices Report on the Sonoma County Ecological Footprint Project: Time U . S . Environmental Protection Agency's State and Local Govern - to Lighten Up ? May 2002 , Sustainable Sonoma County, ment's Global Warming web page : httpt //yosemite . epa . gov/ OAR/ www. sustainablesonoma . org globaIviavmIng . nsf/content/VisitorCenterPublicOfficialsRole . html State of Denial, a special supplement of The Sacramento Bee, Tom Summary for Policymakers, Climate Change 2001 - Impacts, Adap - Knutson , lead writer, April 27 , 2003 . An in -depth look at the way tation and Vulnerability Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change world resources—including oil—feed California 's growing . appetite . ( IPCC ) , Third Assessment Report (TAR) , Climate Change 2001 www. sacbee . com / denial httpo / / ipcc - ddc . cru . uea . ac . uk / Veridians www. viridiandesign . org For global warming with attitude, California Energy Commission : Climate Change and California this is the sitel httpo / / www. energy. ca . gov / global_climate_change / index . htmi Who Owns the Sky2 Our Common Assets and the Future of Capitalism, United Nations Environmental Programme, www. grida . no / climate by Peter Barnes, © 2001 , Island Press . See also www. skyowners .org Excellent source for information and graphics , including a CO2 meter showing the current estimated annual rate of global an . FACTS AND FIGURES thropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide , based on projections Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change www. ipcc . ch made by the International Energy Agency. Pew Center on Global Climate Change www. pewcllmate . org Alliance to Save Energy www. ase . org An organization that pro - motes energy eff iciency worldwide • . y consumption is Watergy www. watergy. org Resource for the water—energy efficiency the most significant environmental metric. connection California Climate Registry—www. climateregistry. org State insti Northwest Environmental Watch - tution for businesses to register their GHG reductions Clean Air - Cool Planet www. cleanalrftcoolplanet . org Resources for colleges and universities 20 PROJECT TEAM (L to R) Ned Orrett, L Resource Performance Partners www. resourceperform. com ; John Rosenblum, Provimetria www. provimetrics . com, . e XAnn Hancock , � `' '£ Climate Protection Campaign mtria . us sk www. �S �M, Y Ken Wells, Director, Charlotte Fisher, Edward Myers, Provimetria Administrative Analyst, Sonoma County www. provimetrics.com Waste Management Agency ad. f F OTHER TEAM MEMBERS IF ROD?�4'i: W x 1 (L to R) Amy Bonczewski— Healdsburg and Windsor intern; Gary Albrlght— (L to R) Ryan Bell, ICLEI Technical Assistance Associate , www. iclei . org; Kendra Markle, City of Sonoma intern; Simon Wooley—Petaluma intern and analyst for fleet data$ Skymetrics webmaster & online software designer www. kendramarkle . com; Hyun Moon—Rohnert Park intern ; Dave Erickson—Sebastopol intern, IT ex- Steve Holsinger, Cloverdale Assistant City Manager; Mike Sandler, Writing assistance pert, number-crunching yeoman, and analyst for employee commute survey; & all-purpose inspiration, intelligence, & support; Nettie Lane—project consultant and intern supervisor; Armando Navarro, Coordinator, Monika Villanueva —Cotati intern . Environmental Technology Center, Sonoma State University �7 CLIMATE PROTECTION CAMPAIGN ELECTED LIAISONS All are shown in cover photograph with the exception of Dick Ashford, Mayor of the City of Sonoma , who was unavailable for the photo . GHG INVENTORY PROJECT STAFF LIAISONS Cloverdale—Steve Holsinger, Assistant City Manager Steve also conducted the inventory for his city, Cotati—Dennis Dorch , Assistant City Manager &5 Healdsburg—Barbara Jason - White, Assistant City Manager Petaluma--Mike Moore, Director, Community Development Department Rohnert Park—Marlyn Keller, Housing Specialist Santa Rosa—Marc Richardson , Assistant City Manager Sebastopol—Sue Kelly, Assistant City Manager and Engineering Director City of Sonoma—Mike Fuson , City Manager Windsor—Matt Mullan , Assistant Town Manager County of Sonoma—Chris Thomas, County Administrative Analyst 21 WHO ' S STANDING FOR CLIMATE PROTECTION ? Let 's stop the cynicism and get on with what is possible. We are part It is really inspiring when all nine cities and the of a growing number of government and busi- County can work together on a cause that will ness people, scientists, clergy, youth, and com- . make a difference for our future generations. in sty people around the globe who see that . It's all about good planning and having good 5 + 2 solutions exist. We don 't have to let the world v data, so policymakers can make good deci- Z r G ;� turn to toast. City of Sonoma Council memm sions .Petaluma Council member Pam Torli- s + ay ber Ken Brown, and daughter Eden, 21 months , att, and niece Savannah Torliatt, age 3 , LLLLLLL a. + Im . . : d. I 'm for anything we can do to save the climate; va every bit helps . The campaign is working in The precedent of tackling climate change on , - a regional basis is so fundamentally imporm Cloverdale. Its especially important for our .% W � --4 tant toward solving an issue that is larger Y E children so they will inherit a better place.— ., than any one of us. Sonoma County 's com - Cloverdale Council member Gail Pardini-Plass, n mitment and example of unified leadership and Tallon D 'Amico, age 7 ; 1. , . has created a common-sense model for this country and beyond. This project proves that a regional approach I 'd like to see a cooperative effort from gov- does make a difference.—Cotati Council member Janet Orchard, and Katie Arnold age 15 ernment, the community at large and the pri- 9 M vote sector, first to realize that there is a prob- q ir �. lem and then work cooperatively to help ? resolve it. 1 see my role as helping local gov- ` am confident we can significantly reduces f" ii ernment lead the way.—County of Sonoma i � greenhouse gas emissions in Sebastopol ' z � zxr r " and demonstrate to other communities Supervisor Tim Smith, granddaughter HalleyX. _ x4 Mason, age 8 that sustainable policy is affordable and achievable.—Sebastopol Council member -•:' 1 `.y Sam Spooner, and children: Sierra, age 18, _ it's really important that we take action now Aaron, one 13, and Rowan, age 8 ' to reduce greenhouse gases so the future gen- erations can enjoy the same quality of life • that we have. I don 't understand how any- re one would be willing to take a risk that they 1 6 ! tall comes down to the legacy we want to fi are harming their children or grandchildren3 h leave our kids. If we want them to have the by ignoring the signs of climate change, ands same opportunities we do and if we want to not try to do something about it Windsor ' leave the world a better place for them, then Council member Debora Fudge, and Florencia Sund, age 1S r we need to take climate protection seriously. We can act now and make a difference. We can create a legacy of health and hope that is worthy of the effort.— Vicki Videk- Martinez, The inventory is a good thing to help us know Rohnert Park and Diane D 'Amico, age 10 x - i our starting point. This program seems reason - able and balanced. Anything radical is too scary W Its an issue that is going to involve all of for people. l feel we can do a little bit and build ` us, each doing our part.—Santa Rosa member J Coun- on it, and that change will happen slowly and s cil one Bender, and grandson De- steadily.—Healdsburg Council member Lisa von Koons. age 3 kk Schaffner, and daughter McKenzie, age 7 z ` On the Front Coder : The photographs above and on the front cover were taken at Luther Burbank's Home and Gardens in downtown Santa Rosa , Luther Burbank was an extraordinary horticulturist of the early twentieth century who called Sonoma County " the chosen spot as far as nature is i concerned . " Solar panels, hybrid and electric vehicles represent some of the technologies to help us create a positive future . i Summary of Green Space Funding Meeting January 22 " d , 2004 at the Triangle J Council of Governments (Draft , 1 /29/04) Participants : Tracy Burnett , Bill Bussey, Lorelei Costa, Kate Dixon , Jane Korest, Richard Rogers , Rich Shaw , and Carol Tingley. Bob Bridwell, David Carter, Steven Finn, and Eddy Davis had meeting conflicts but provided comments via email and/or phone . Meeting Summary : The meeting began with a brief recap of the Triangle GreenPrint Project to date ( see attachment) . Then each participant shared updates on the green space funding situation in his or her jurisdiction ( see summary table on pp . 3 - 4) . Kate Dixon then shared an update on her new job as Project Director for the state - level Public Funding Project of The Nature Conservancy, the Trust for Public Land, the Conservation Trust for North Carolina, the N . C . Public Interest Research Group , the American Farmland Trust, and the N . C . Recreation and Parks Society. The Public Funding Project is gauging support for new green space funding by conducting leadership interviews , focus groups , a farmers poll , and general public polling . Based on its research to date , the Public Funding Project doesn ' t see support for a major new state bond for green space at the moment . However, it is working to build support and demonstrate need . To help do this , it is currently working on a statewide needs assessment planned for completion by May 2004 , and is exploring the possibility of a statewide bond referendum for green space in 2005 . TPL has prepared a draft financing study and Kate will see if she can share a copy with the GreenPrint TAC members . Richard Rogers added that DENR is exploring the possibility of an initiative in 2004 to use existing dedicated revenue sources to leverage additional funds for green space protection . The group mentioned the continuing need to communicate the importance of maintenance and stewardship of existing facilities and land , as well as the acquisition of new land . Open space is still not widely seen as an essential activity, especially in tight fiscal times . As a result , the group emphasized the need to highlight the economic value of open space protection, especially its benefits in attracting and retaining skilled workers that help make companies competitive in the New Economy. The group then discussed ways to develop new funding sources for green space , and the possibility of a Phase 4 of the Triangle GreenPrint Project that was focused on this activity. Participants noted the value of a Triangle-wide strategy in removing the fear that one community acting alone might make itself less competitive regionally in the short term by spending more than its neighbors on green space protection . They suggested focusing more on public education and less on additional technical analysis . One idea was to develop a regional event that presented the growing body of information on the economic value of open space , with special attention paid to outlining the positive impacts on business , real estate , tourism , public health , water quality, agricultural economics , and the cost of community services . A regional event could then be followed by events in each county, with speakers like Kevin Brice from TLC and other local and outside experts . County appointed board members working on open space issues 1 were identified as a logical group to involve . A four- color brochure summarizing the Triangle GreenPrint Project could be developed and distributed at these and other events . Participants also discussed the idea of a more in- depth Open Space Leadership Institute to educate decision-makers and community leaders about the value of open space protection . Another venue identified for making presentations was the annual conference of the N . C . Association of County Commissioners . Participants were excited about the ideas generated, but did not feel they were well- enough developed at this point to commit seed funds to help leverage additional private foundation investment in the project . As a result , the session concluded with participants suggesting to continue the discussion in several months in order to build on the good ideas generated and outline a mutually agreeable work program to present to potential fenders . 2 lot Imt lot �mt � r r CD CD � � CD � 'i CD G � � � � cD � (D �O (� C (D � a a p. 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