One Community at a Time

1
One Community at a Time

• What participation in
• Cities for Climate Protection means for all of
  us.
• City of Oneonta
• Village of Cooperstown
• Otsego County Conservation Association

2
100 years of carbon emissions

• Increased 25 in past 100 yrs due to fossil fuel
  use
• Fossil fuels reserves have peaked for oil
• Coal abundant for another century
• Fossil fuel combustion results
• in poor air quality
• particulates
• nitric oxides
• ground level ozone
• sulfur
• mercury
• Linked to global warming

CO2 in atmosphere
Atmospheric temperature
3
The Greenhouse Effect, in a nutshell

• CO2 forms a blanket in atmosphere.
• This retains heat from solar radiation.
• As CO2 levels increase, so will
• heat retention
• glacial melting
• weather volatility

www.epa.gov
4
Greenhouse gasses and climate change who cares?

• National Academy of Sciences and National
  Research Council
• United Nations- Intergovernmental Panel on
  Climate Change (IPCC)
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• Gov. George Pataki and the State of New York
• World Economic Forum
• All have recognized the importance of
  controlling carbon emissions for both our climate
  future and our energy future.

5
Kyoto Protocol

• Kyoto (Japan) International agreement 1997
  followed Rio Earth Summit of 1992
• Goal reduction to 1990 levels or below by 2012,
  with some exceptions.
• Over 100 counties ratified
• Bush administration withdrew from the Kyoto
  agreement, March 2001.
• Since 1990, USA is producing 35 more CO2 and
  currently produces 20 global output.

6
Reducing carbon emissions, one city at a time

• Cities for Climate Protection (CCP)
• Individual municipalities agree to set their own
  carbon emission reduction goals.
• City of Oneonta joined CCP through resolution
  April 2005.
• Cooperstown passed a similar measure March 2005
• CCP is a campaign of ICLEI-Local Governments for
  Sustainability
• ICLEI now has northeast regional office
• Kim Lundgren is Northeast
• regional coordinator

7
Cities for Climate Protection has established 5
Milestones

• Establish baseline level of emissions
• Set target goals
• Develop a Local Action Plan
• Implement the action plan
• Measure results

8
How much CO2 and other greenhouse gasses do we
currently produce?

• A 2003 estimate from Oneonta Footprint Project
  (SUNY Oneonta) revealed that
• the CO2 cloud produced by the City and
  surrounding community requires most (87) of
  Otsego Countys forested landscape to re-absorb
  (carbon sequestration).
• Approximately half of the carbon emissions
  produced by the 15,000 residents of Oneonta are
  from transportation alone (i.e., largely
  automobiles).

9
1. Taking an inventory

• A more accurate inventory (using software
  developed by ICLEI) will pinpoint specific
  sources and provide better planning timelines.
• How much CO2 generation are we responsible for?
  Where is it coming from?
• How much energy are we using, and who?
• How much money are we losing to inefficiency?
• What will it take to remediate?
• What actions are we currently taking?

10
2. Setting target goalsHow low should we go?

• Increased energy efficiency has financial
  benefits for consumers.
• Reducing emissions has health benefits (i.e.,
  local air quality) for the community.
• Many programs are available to assist energy
  efficiency, green building design, and emission
  reductions.
• The goal is established by the municipality, as
  is a timeline towards meeting that goal.

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3. Developing a Local Action Plan

• ICLEI will provide guidance for us to develop a
  plan to reduce our emissions.
• The plan details the programs and policies a city
  can implement to reduce emissions to target
  levels.
• Clean Air and Climate Protection (CACP) software
  package available to participants
• Links with Local Agenda 21 for long term
  strategic planning, and other groups.
• But the specifics will be home grown

12
Developing a Local Action Plan

• The Local Action Plan will be our Oneonta plan,
  or Cooperstown plan.
• Timeline and specific targets stated
• Financial costs and savings calculated
• Local public awareness campaign
• Some possibilities
• Street light retrofits, green building
  renovations.
• Coordination of local business to reduce energy
  use
• Regional transportation (OPT student ridership,
  Gus the Bus)

13
4. Implementing the action plan

• ICLEI is
• an association of local governments and
  governmental organizations
• an agency to facilitate research and lead
  campaigns
• EPA and NYSERDA assistance available.
• Colleges and schools can play a part.
• Implementation will be easier if local businesses
  and citizens see benefits.

14
5. Measuring and Monitoring

• Regular monitoring of progress towards goals will
  provide opportunity for feedback.
• Set reasonable goals
• Our reach should just exceed our grasp.
• Act at local timescales
• but keep long term climate goals and energy use
  in mind.
• Move towards an ecologically sustainable
  community.

15
We are not alone

• Over 600 cities have passed resolutions to work
  towards climate protection
• Buffalo, Ithaca, NYC, New Rochelle, Saratoga
  Springs
• Internationally, 470 cities are members ICLEI
• NYSERDA and EPA (Energy Star) support
• Grants for municipalities and schools
• Information for individuals and commercial
  businesses
• Otsego County Conservation Association (OCCA)
• Working with both Oneonta and Cooperstown
• Other groups
• Urban Green Days
• Clean Air-Cool Planet
• New York Community Trust.

16
Putting one foot in front of the other

• First Milestones (Inventory, Goals, Action Plan)
• Need volunteers to conduct Inventory, and
  contribute to development of our Local Action
  Plan
• Students
• Retired professionals
• Enthusiastic citizens

• Establish Partnerships
• City of Oneonta (ICLEI participant)
• Village of Cooperstown
• Otsego County Conservation Association
• SUNY College at Oneonta
• Hartwick College
• A.O. Fox hospital
• Bassett hospital
• NYSEG
• Schools

17
Contact Information

• City of Oneonta
• http//www.oneonta.ny.us
• Jim Koury, City Clerk jkoury_at_oneonta.ny.us
• Village of Cooperstown
• Carol Waller, Mayor mohicanflowers_at_aol.com
• OCCA
• www.occainfo.org email occa_at_wpe.com
• Martha Clarvoe and Donna Vogler, volunteers
• ICLEI
• www.iclei.org
• Kim Lundgren, Northeast Program Director
• kim.lundgren_at_iclei.org

18
Acknowledgement

• This PowerPoint presentation was created in
  August 2005 by Dr. Donna W. Vogler of the Otsego
  County Conservation Association. We encourage
  free and widespread use of this presentation,
  provided that OCCA is acknowledged as the source.
  
• Otsego County Conservation Association
• P.O. Box 931
• Cooperstown NY 13326
• [phone]