This year has been one long string of bad news for the climate. Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels passed an undesirable threshold, arctic sea ice melted at record levels, average global temperature records were repeatedly beaten, and a quarter of the Great Barrier Reef’s coral died during a massive bleaching event.
This is what manmade climate change looks like, and across the world, communities and countries are asking how they can fight it.
The City of Rochester’s answer is its recently released Climate Action Plan. The document sets a goal of reducing citywide greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent by 2030 and provides a blueprint to get there. Officials are taking comment on the plan right now, and expect it’ll go to City Council for a vote within the next few months.
“I think that the city should be just commended for a really broad plan that has a lot of parts, that really is a good road map of how we can get to a cleaner community in the future,” says Scott Oliver, deputy for energy programs at PathStone, a housing nonprofit that coordinates some government energy efficiency and renewables incentive programs locally.
The City of Rochester is already making emissions reduction efforts, and the plan builds on those. The city is installing electric vehicle charging stations for public use in parking garages and at places such as the Public Market; it’s working through a plan to make city streets friendlier to cyclists. And officials solicited a developer to build a big solar array on a closed city landfill, from which the city will buy electricity.
But officials put the plan together because they see climate action as a way to create jobs, boost the city’s economy, improve air quality and public health, reduce energy costs, and ensure the city’s vibrancy. And they want to get the city’s residents and businesses to act, too.
The plan suggests ways to make owner-occupied and rental residences more energy efficient, to get people to install solar panels and other renewable energy systems, and to get residents to cut down on natural gas consumption, possibly by switching to electric heating systems and appliances. It also recommends that the city partner with Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority to improve bus systems and boost ridership.
Much of the plan centers on voluntary efforts, however, which concerns members of the Rochester People’s Climate Coalition, says Abigail McHugh Grifa, a member of the organization’s leadership team. For example, commercial building owners are unlikely to voluntarily report their buildings’ energy use, she says.
“Certainly, it would have more teeth, it would go further, and it would be more impactful if it were mandatory,” she says.
The People’s Climate Coalition is generally happy with the plan, however. The group is proud of the city for stepping up and making climate action a priority. And it wants to work with city officials to implement the recommendations, McHugh-Grifa says.
A citywide greenhouse gas inventory is at the center of the Climate Action Plan. The city identified various sources, calculated their annual emissions, and then eliminated things such as large emitters and airplanes, which it couldn’t really impact.
The city calculated that:
• Natural gas use accounts for 51 percent of citywide emissions;
• Vehicles generate 24 percent;
• Electricity is responsible for 22 percent;
• Refuse sent to landfills generates 3 percent;
• Water and wastewater systems are responsible for less than 1 percent.
Citywide emissions decreased 8 percent between 2010 and 2014, according to the plan. The city’s electricity supply became cleaner over that timeframe, which was a major factor in the emissions drop. Decreases in vehicle emissions were another factor.
The plan points to a major step that the city could take to further clean up its electric supply: Community Choice Aggregation. Earlier this year, the state eased requirements for local governments to buy and provide electricity for residents and small businesses.
RPCC and PathStone’s Oliver are excited about the possibility, and the city is working with some Monroe County towns to investigate the concept; the city could pursue Community Choice Aggregation on its own, or in partnership with other governments.
The approach would, in all likelihood, save residents and businesses money, since the city would buy power in bulk. But it would also be a way to secure low-carbon and renewable electricity for its power users. That combo would benefit affluent and low-income residents alike.
“It’s a way for the city to support renewable energy in a way they’re currently not able to support,” Oliver says
Equity is a big theme in the plan. The energy efficiency programs that PathStone coordinates are accessible to property owners, not renters. And incentives for things such as rooftop solar power systems generally benefit more affluent homeowners who can afford the upfront costs.
Renters have far less control over energy-saving improvements that would also slash their utility bills.
But rental property owners do have access to incentives for such improvements. For example, landlords can get substantial grants and low-interest loans for replacing old furnaces with new high-efficiency units, Oliver says.
The Climate Action Plan recommends that the city and organizations such as PathStone reach out to rental property owners — and to tenants, who can influence their landlords — to increase awareness of efficiency programs.
The plan also raises the possibility that the city could tie energy efficiency to periodic certificate of occupancy renewals, just as it does with lead paint testing. But city officials say that code enforcement’s heavy workload might make that impractical.
The plan also recommends that the city boost urban agriculture, provide easy pedestrian and bicycle access to bus stops, and ensure that climate actions are consistent with the work of the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative.
Many other cities and communities around the county are developing or have developed climate action plans, including Raleigh, North Carolina; Knoxville, Tennessee; Fort Collins, Colorado; Phoenix, Arizona; and Portland, Oregon.
Local climate action is arguably more important now than it has ever been. President Barack Obama made some aggressive efforts to curb US greenhouse gas emissions and to implement anti-climate change regulations.
But President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to gut, cripple, or eliminate federal climate programs, end the “war on coal,” and pull the US out of the Paris accord, which has just gone into effect.
The Trump White House and the GOP-controlled Congress will be no friend to the climate. That means individuals, towns, villages, cities, counties, and states will have to take the lead on cutting climate-altering emissions.
Citizens will have to press their governments for climate-friendly policies and programs and will have to show elected officials that acting on climate isn’t a political liability.
Rochesterians have that opportunity right now with the Climate Action Plan.
“People need to get involved in this process and speak up and let the city know what the priorities should be, what they need to be,” RPCC’s McHugh-Grifa says. “Because if the community is not involved, these decisions will be made by someone else who’s not necessarily living there and is not affected on a day-to-day basis.”
Rochester Cap Draft 11.03.2016 (1) by jmouleatcity on Scribd
This article appears in Nov 23-29, 2016.
This article captures the importance of Rochesters Climate Action Plan (CAP) at a critical time. Although the Citys Climate Action Plan has been a long time coming, its arriving when the Trump presidency threatens to bully us and the rest of the world with the Denier-In Chiefs anti-sustainable machinations. The Trump threat to pull the United States out of the recently adopted Paris Agreement not only puts everyones future at risk, it threatens our countrys credibility and legacy of leadership on world issues.
The Citys CAP is no substitute for the Paris Agreement, but it is a demonstration that communities like Rochester appreciate the urgency and importance of addressing Climate Change locally. Further, a local CAP provides a blueprint for adapting to Climate Change, as adapting to the extreme weather, heat, and flooding that will increase in our region is an absolute necessityregardless of what side of the political isle you are on the science of Climate Change. (I know, this sounds strange because science should not have degenerated into politics.)
Also, worked into the Citys CAP and many other communitys climate action plans are the needs of businesses. Businesses need a healthy environment to operate in. Which is to say, predictability: clean water, clean air, and uniform regulations. A template like the Citys CAP also provides the local media with a realistic framework from which to report and put into context the consequences we are already experiencing from this worldwide crisis.
Many of those communities already challenged by job shortages, transportation issues, public health concerns, food availability, and security issues will find the CAP a very useful vehicle to leverage their apprehensions about a sustainable future.
The moment this article mentioned Obama or Trump, I stopped reading it. We will never make great progress with issues such as “going green” if we allow politics to take control, as you will surely divide individuals and essentially cut out one side of thinking. Your comment about climate change degenerating into politics is actually ironic as climate change is one of the most politicized issues our world faces today. Most of the research you see reported is funded by corporations/companies dedicated to alternative energy. With that being said, I believe that alt. energy is a great thing, but it has to be introduced and implemented in smaller doses rather than trying to lay it on everyone all at once. And regarding your thoughts on clean air, clean water,etc, the Great Lakes region literally has one of the most potable, cleanest tap water in the world… I respect your enthusiasm for dealing with climate change, but until we avoid allowing politics to cloud the overall picture, you will never successfully accomplish a feat that could have lasting and beneficial effects in our great nation and, quite honestly, on our great planet.
As a point of clarification: I purposely phrased my comment science should not have degenerated into politics. The science of Climate Change, which is the same science behind gravity, has become in many peoples mind something less than the other sciences because our politics have been poisoned with ideology, fossil fuel money, and misinformation.
This is a tragedy because we cannot plan for our future if we dont respect science and the scientific method. The United States is becoming alone in its disrespect for the moral and physical threats to our collective existence that come with not addressing Climate Change.
Thankfully, Rochester may stand out as a leader in planning adequately and justly for warmer climateeven if the Trump administration drags its feet on the most important issue of our age.
“Cities must take a leading role in confronting climate change regardless of federal policy,” Warren said. “I have no doubt this is what our citizens expect of us and will allow us to lead by example on this critical issue.” (from City aims to fight climate change, November 21, 2016, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)
This will be my last comment here as I see you have a firm, perhaps misguided stance on the overall issue of climate change. You once again mentioned a political figure and in addition compared the science of climate change to the science of gravity… I truly wish you success in your endeavor to make our city greener and more energy efficient/independent, but just know, anytime you bring up politics, regardless of the matter, it undoubtedly causes division and takes focus off the ultimate goal at hand.