ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE . May 2006Cities Go Kyoto
By Kathy Summers
Look who’s stepping up to tread more lightly on the planetCities of every type and political stripe are reducing greenhouse gas emissions--even without the US signing the worldwide treaty negotiated in Kyoto, Japan in December 1997. Starting at the local level, where pollution often begins, citizens and city officials are working together to create action plans.
You can see it in Twin Falls, Idaho’s efforts to upgrade energy efficiency in 11 public schools and in Denver, Colorado’s decision to run the county jail on solar power. While our President pooh-poohs the Kyoto Protocol, the largest city in his home state of Texas (Houston) is on track to make more than half its city fleet of cars, pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles hybrid by 2010.
The Kyoto Protocol, signed by 162 industrialized countries as of February 28, 2006, amends the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to set greenhouse gas emissions targets for developed countries. It aims to prevent climate changes that scientists say threaten planetary and public health. Although an overwhelming amount of evidence now confirms the need to reduce global warming, the US Federal Government continues to stall rather than sign the agreement, arguing that Kyoto is unrealistic and would hurt the economy.
Lack of consensus clouds the issue, but waiting for word from the White House is not an option, says Tom Kelly, director of the all-volunteer grassroots organization KyotoUSA. “We often don’t see how powerful we can be. The way to look at it is, if I change, and I can get my family to change, and influence my employers to change the way they do business, or my religious institutions and my kids’ schools—if I can get them to do something, it will begin to snowball. And you don’t have to get everybody on board to make a difference. You only have to get a critical mass, which is often a relatively small number of people heading in that direction,” says Kelly.
So far, 208 mayors from 38 states representing more than 42 million citizens have demonstrated their commitment to reduce global warming pollution to Kyoto levels by signing the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. Some of them have also joined the Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) campaign organized by ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives), now known as Local Governments for Sustainability. Still others green up with grassroots efforts like the Sierra Club’s Cool Cities Campaign.
A few cities and dozens of organizations are also members of the Chicago Climate Exchange, a cap-and-trade system like the New York Stock Exchange, except that it caps emissions and allows members who exceed the cap to meet goals by trading credits with members who stay under it.
In no particular order, the following six cities have made or plan to make changes to prevent climate change. Some are known for their green sensibilities, while others have so many challenges you'd expect them to just throw up their collective hands in resignation. Instead they’re taking action.Bright ideas
Salt Lake City has replaced old decorative lighting and conventional incandescent bulbs in all government offices and grounds with energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs. This has greatly reduced their carbon dioxide emissions (CO2), a leading greenhouse gas associated with climate change, and it saves the city over $33,000 a year. The city uses a portion of that savings to buy pollution-free wind energy.
“We cannot believe every single government, public entity, and business isn’t doing this," says Lisa Romney, environmental adviser to Salt Lake City Mayor Ross “Rocky” Anderson. "Other than up-front costs, there’s no excuse for using an antiquated technology like incandescent bulbs.”
Salt Lake City is also converting energy-hogging traffic signals to LED traffic lights. “Those lights are on 24 hours a day, seven days a week," says Romney. "A lot of people don’t think about the energy they use but it’s huge.” The city expects to save over $50,000 a year in electrical costs.Stepping off the gas
Portland, Oregon cut carbon emissions to pre-1990 levels as if Kyoto were a done deal—and at no significant cost to taxpayers. Their public transportation initiatives lowered their per capita gasoline sales by 12 percent between 1990 and 2004. But their well-designed light rail system is only part of the solution.
“The reason our light rail system works is because jobs and houses are within striking distance," says Michael Armstrong of Portland’s Office of Sustainable Development. "The intersection of land use and transportation planning makes it easy, cheap, and healthy to get around the city without releasing excess carbon dioxide."
Bus and light rail travel are free downtown and bikes are welcome on board. Bus riding increased 89 percent between 1990 and 2005, and bicycle travel over Portland's bridges, a key route into downtown, more than tripled between 1992 and 2005. Portland’s 74 miles of hiking, running and biking trails promote personal and planetary health.Gardens in the sky
More than 200 gardens grow (or soon will grow) on the rooftops of downtown Chicago, Illinois—including a 20,300 square ft. garden above City Hall showcasing 20,000 plants of more than 100 varieties. Roof gardens reflect heat, provide shade, and cool the surrounding air. They improve air quality, conserve energy, reduce storm runoff, smog, and the urban heat island effect.
“We’ve monitored a number of these sites and find the temperature 60 to 70 degrees cooler on green roofs than on black roofs," says Sadhu Johnston, commissioner of the City of Chicago Department of Environment. "That helps keep the city cool and helps us reduce the use of air conditioning. Roof gardens extend the life of our roofs, too, so we don’t have to tear off roof material and throw it away—which also saves money.”
Johnston says the gardens add an aesthetic quality as well. “Instead of looking out on a sea of boring black roofs in downtown Chicago, you now see interesting green roofs with birds and butterflies and beehives.”Poop power
Known for recycling more than 60 percent of its garbage, San Francisco, California is now considering adding pet poop to its elegant cycle of reuse. The pilot program involves dropping biodegradable bags of dog poop into carts at dog parks and then into a methane digester for conversion to methane gas. Methane, which occurs naturally from animal waste, is a potent greenhouse gas, so transforming it into electricity, natural gas, and fuel has obvious environmental benefits.
Turning pet poop into power is a natural for a city with the expressed goal of letting nothing go to waste, or specifically, of reusing and recycling everything so nothing is left to toss into landfills by the year 2020. The city's food-composting program involves collecting 300 tons of food scraps daily and selling the resulting fertilizer to organic farms and vineyards. But pet waste creates more pathogens and requires more careful processing. It constitutes nearly four percent of the city’s residential waste, or 6,500 tons a year, though, so turning poop into power could someday pay off.Doable renewables
When Waverly, Iowa erected its first windmill on a local farmer’s cornfield in 1993, it became the first city in the Midwest to operate a wind energy facility. The city’s public power system now owns and operates three windmills on local farmland, and together they generate enough pollution-free renewable energy to offset nearly 6,850 tons of CO2. At the same time, the windmills provide additional income for local farmers.
The city also participates in the Iowa Energy Tag program, which sells tax-deductible certificates (tags) to fund future wind generation equipment and development.
“Waverly sets a great example for people in other small cities who want to get a process going," says Glen Brand, national field coordinator for the Sierra Club’s Global Warming Program, "not only for a climate protection plan but for actual solutions that save dollars and the environment.”
Not easy going green
What’s Baltimore, Maryland got to do with green? “We often get asked that question and we ask ,‘Why not?’” says Billy Hwang, legislative aide to Councilman Jim Kraft. “You don’t picture rust belt cities like ours doing green stuff, and we’ve been environmentally challenged for a long time. But we think we have a unique opportunity to make changes and move forward. We don’t want to leave the same ecological footprint to future generations that we inherited.”
When several chemical plants shut down in Baltimore leaving tons of toxic waste and polluted buildings behind—along with a declining tax base—the city needed a plan. So in 2004, a grassroots volunteer group of designers, architects, and concerned citizens organized the first annual Baltimore Green Week to share ideas for greening their buildings.
The public’s positive response shocked even the organizers. And it inspired Councilman Jim Kraft to form Baltimore’s first Green Building Task Force to find sustainable development options, starting with adopting a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building rating system.
We all need to buy into these kinds of programs,” says Hwang. “Communities with people of all socioeconomic levels and races need to get involved.”
[SIDEBAR]
Greening Your City
How Cool Can You Get?Starting a grassroots effort to reduce your city’s impacts on global warming is easier than you might think. “It doesn’t take hardcore environmentalists--it takes a diverse group of about a dozen people coming together willing to act,” says KyotoUSA director Tom Kelly.
Support is available every step of the way from KyotoUSA (kyotousa.org), ICLEI’s Cities for Climate Protection Campaign (www.iclei.org), and the Sierra Club’s Cool Cities Campaign (sierraclub.org), starting with suggestions for a four-step plan:1. Gather a group of volunteers focused on climate protection. Align your goals for reducing emissions with Kyoto Protocol goals by asking your mayor to take ICLEI’s Cities for Climate Protection pledge and sign the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement (seattle.gov/mayor/climate), which was spearheaded by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels the day Kyoto took effect.
2. Conduct a global warming emissions inventory. With your mayor on board and technical assistance from ICLEI, assess your city’s CO2 habits. This will provide a baseline score to help gauge your city’s progress.
3. Create a solutions plan. Decide where your city can make a measurable change. Then work with your mayor to craft a plan that will reduce emission levels while lowering your city’s long-term energy costs. Your city’s plan will be unique but might include:
Land Use. Create pedestrian friendly city blocks and bicycle trails, reduce sprawl, preserve open spaces, maintain healthy urban forests, and plant trees to increase shade and absorb CO2.
4. Put the plan into action and watch it grow. Follow through is essential to reap the very real rewards of saving the environment while saving dollars for your city.
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Kathy Summers is a health, fitness and nutrition writer in Cave Cree, AZ.
