| Local Policy Description: | The City of Portland Office of Sustainable Development and Multnomah County Department of Sustainable Community Development will coordinate Portland-area efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and assist other local government agencies with complementary programs and policies. The City of Portland and Multnomah County will assume leadership roles in taking aggressive, prudent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. High quality, timely information is essential to implementing these policies successfully. The city and county must ensure that the Portland community has access to this information and becomes increasingly aware of global warming and the impacts residents and businesses have on greenhouse gas emissions.
The city and county plan to pursue reductions via the specific internal local government actions and community initiatives listed below.
The government will take action by 2003 to:
Compile and update an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions from city and county operations and track related solid waste, energy, economic, and environmental data.
Educate employees and bureau managers about sustainability with a focus on specific operational changes that can be made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Require employee education on fuel-efficient driving and reducing energy use at work.
The government will take action by 2010 to:
Review major policies and programs in the early stages of development to identify ways to reduce related greenhouse gas emissions.
Integrate the goal and actions set out in this plan into future city and county policies.
The community will take action by 2003 to:
Inform local elected officials, community leaders, and local and regional media about the causes and impacts of global warming.
Continue to compile and distribute information on greenhouse gas reduction technologies, programs, and policies that will improve Portland’s economy and environment.
Expand the civic, educational, religious, and neighborhood institutions that specifically address global warming.
Implement and support education and outreach programs to:
a. Improve community understanding of the nature of the greenhouse gas effect and possible global, regional, and local impacts of climate change
b. Inform residents, businesses, and institutions about how their actions affect greenhouse gas emissions
c. Encourage residents, businesses, and institutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Provide tools to local residents and businesses to estimate their greenhouse gas emissions and emission reductions.
Work with city and county agencies to publicize greenhouse gas-reducing projects and actions through public education efforts.
Encourage and support greenhouse gas-reduction efforts at state, national, and international levels.
The community will take action by 2010 to:
Establish a hotline for business and household resource-conservation questions. Provide educational information and referrals to resources and global warming-related programs.
Ensure that teachers have access to effective educational materials about global warming.
Compile and update an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions in Multnomah County and track related air quality, solid waste, energy, and environmental data.
Formally acknowledge the global warming impacts of city planning, transportation, and urban redevelopment policies and decisions such as North Macadam, North Interstate Avenue, and Outer Southeast.
Prepare a progress report on the Local Action Plan on Global Warming every two years and propose action items for the following two years.
Monitor the development of greenhouse gas emission credit mechanisms, and seek to bank credits for the city and county.
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