| Local Policy Description: | Public Outreach and Education
Beyond investing and implementing their own climate protection activities, institutions can play an important role in encouraging and or influencing their constituents, employees and the general public. Examples include:
- Sponsoring or participating in general and/or professional events and activities that raise awareness of global warming and opportunities for climate protection;
- The use of newsletters, web-sites or other media to inform and motivate;
- The development, distribution and use of global warming and climate protection curricula and training materials;
- Sponsoring or participating in public participation campaigns (e.g. the 10% emissions reduction challenge);
- Sponsoring or participating in public forums, and regulatory or legislative debates, that relate to climate protection (transportation & land use planning, taxation reform, energy system planning); and
- Publicizing successful climate protection activities.
Amending the Municipal Code and Ordinances
Burlington has residential new construction codes and a minimum rental housing time-of-sale standards. The former helps prevent lost opportunities for energy efficiencies in new construction, while the latter addresses the split incentive that often exists between renter and landlord for energy efficiency improvements in rental housing.
The time-of-sale ordinance takes advantage of the transaction of a property to minimize inconvenience for property owners, and to take maximum advantage of available financing mechanisms. The municipal development plan encourages developers to go beyond minimum efficiency standards, and it encourages the use of best practices, including energy efficiency design criteria.
The potential for emissions reductions from these two standards, and the best practice guidelines, are very conservatively estimated to exceed 100 tons per year.
Municipal street lighting is another area where city ordinances influence potential climate protection opportunities. Reducing annual electric consumption by 5 percent from 1998 levels through modifications to lighting levels and/or more efficient technologies would reduce emissions by 100 tons per year.
Promoting Voluntary Programs and Providing Incentives for City Employees to Reduce Emissions
To supplement the actions outlined above, the city encourages municipal employees to help identify further emissions reduction opportunities. This request can be incorporated into the city’s broader promotion and adoption of the 10 percent reduction goal.
Although this is difficult to quantify, it is not unreasonable to project that the additional ideas and opportunities adopted due to this type of effort could prevent at least 100 tons of annual emissions by the year 2005.
The Climate Wise Program
In June 1997, the city, in partnership with the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, was awarded a $35,000 grant under the EPA Climate Wise Program.
Designed to forge a local government-industry partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy efficiency, the grant called for:
- The recruitment of 12 area companies to EPA’s Climate Wise Program;
- The preparation of six action plans for greenhouse gas emissions for these Climate Wise Program partners; and
- The preparation of the Municipal Buildings Energy Action Plan.
In 1998 the city was awarded a second grant $28,000 for the recruitment of two more companies and the preparation of eight more action plans. To date, this program has recorded 16 industrial companies recruited, nine energy assessments performed and six action plans filed.
The Legacy Project
Another example of the city’s commitment to sustainability is the Burlington Legacy Project, currently being developed by the City of Burlington and the Institute for Sustainable Communities, a nonprofit organization in Montpelier.
This project aims to develop a broad-based, community-driven vision of sustainability for Burlington, strengthen existing programs that connect students to and educate them on community activities, and document the lessons learned to provide a model for other cities. These objectives incorporate the mutually supportive goals of promoting energy efficiency, reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, and economic development.
This Climate Protection Action plan and its targets can be incorporated into the Legacy Project’s process of identifying and articulating a common vision of sustainability.
Making a Household Action Plan
The Burlington Climate Protection Task Force is encouraging households, businesses and institutions throughout the city to develop individual climate protection action plans. There are three basic steps to creating such a plan:
- Use energy bills and other information on household activities to estimate your annual emissions of greenhouse gases.
- Identify changes or investments that you can make over the next year to reduce emissions.
- Track your progress.
If you have access to the Worldwide Web (one computer is available at the Fletcher Free Library for public use), you can use the personal CO2 calculator provided by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives at www.iclei.org/iclei/co2calc.htm.
The calculator is easy to use, but to answer its questions you will need to have information ready about your utility bills and your yearly gasoline consumption.
After calculating your household's current emissions, you can set a greenhouse gas reduction target. The city’s goal is to reduce emissions by 10 percent by 2005, but you may decide to choose a higher or lower figure.
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