This is cool news from the Chico Enterprise Record newspaper:
CHICO -- The Chico City Council made progress toward its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions Tuesday, directing the creation of a citywide Climate Action Plan and approving initial actions that could help the city reach its ultimate target emissions level.
In 2006, AB 32 was signed into law, mandating that Californian cities reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050.
As a result of that action, the city of Chico established the Sustainability Task Force, which, in addition to a number of other tasks, has focused on developing strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Some of those initial solutions were presented to the council Tuesday night, with Fletcher Alexander, a city intern and Chico State University grad, offering an overview of the city's current and projected greenhouse gas emissions.
Alexander said an emissions inventory accepted by the council in 2008 reported 2005 greenhouse gas emissions to be 516,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Alexander said if no action is taken, that number is anticipated to reach 704,000 tons by 2020 — the same year the city is expected to reach its target reduction goal of 387,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.
With those statistics in mind, Alexander and City Management Analyst Linda Herman said city government, local businesses and individual residents need to take a series of steps over the next 10 years to achieve the city's
greenhouse gas emissions goal — identifying the most significant action as the development of a city Climate Action Plan.
The plan is anticipated to include a comprehensive list of actions that can be taken to reduce local greenhouse gas emissions, identifying costs, responsibilities, timelines and potential funding sources for those actions.
But the plan itself comes with a price tag, with Herman saying the city has already spent approximately $10,000 in grant funding on developing the plan up until this point.
She estimated the plan would cost an additional $30,000, noting that those costs could be covered by the city's Energy Conservation and Efficiency Block Grant funds. She noted that sum does not include her staff time to work with the Sustainability Task Force.
Regardless of the costs, however, Chico resident Karen Laslo said funding the plan is well worth the benefits it will provide.
"I don't think the Climate Action Plan is much of a sacrifice," Laslo said. "It's the least we can do."
Mark Stemen of Chico agreed.
"It's not about money," Stemen said. "It's about priorities."
He urged the council to make the plan its main priority, saying the city needs to take swift action to mitigate the impacts of global warming.
But Councilor Larry Wahl contested whether a Climate Action Plan, or its subsequent directives, would produce any "tangible benefit" to Chico.
"I do not literally see what this will accomplish ... Will the sky be bluer? Will anything be prettier?" Wahl asked.
Holcombe said he didn't want the city to take the chance that it wouldn't.
"Nature is not waiting and certainly I don't want the city of Chico to wait," Holcombe said.
The rest of the council supported Holcombe.
By a 6-1 vote with Wahl dissenting, the council directed the creation of a Climate Action Plan, simultaneously approving a number of actions to be implemented in the first phase of the plan.
The initial measures largely focus on efforts the city itself can take, including installing LED streetlights and upgrading lighting in city buildings and city facilities.
The construction of the First and Second Street Couplet Project and the Highway 99 Bike Corridor project — projects already under way — are also included on the list of proposed city actions.
Councilor Scott Gruendl noted that the first phase does not impose any regulations on individual citizens or businesses, with Herman saying a "gradual approach" to target goals will be stressed in the Climate Action Plan.
The plan will be developed by city staff and the Sustainability Task Force over the next few months and is anticipated to be presented to the council for approval in early 2011.
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