Re: [GBlist] Seattle and Global Change

["Diane Bellis" <mdbellis@inreach.com>]

I will take any concern about greenhouse gas emissions seriously when cities
makes changes to building codes that would encourage high density and
discourage sprawl.
Diane

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bion D. Howard" <bdhoward@ix.netcom.com>
To: <greenbuilding@crest.org>
Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2001 5:36 AM
Subject: [GBlist] Seattle and Global Change


>
> This move can be replicated at all levels of government.
> ~~~~~~
>   (posted under Federal Library act for non profit use)
>
> Seattle Announces Aggressive Policies to
> Combat Global Warming; Mayor,
> Councilmembers Critical of Federal
> Inaction
>
> July 24, 2001
>
> SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 23, 2001 via
> NewsEdge Corporation -
>
> Seattle Mayor Paul Schell and four members of
> the City Council today announced support for
> the Kyoto Protocol and called on other local
> governments to adopt policies to combat global
> warming.
>
> The City Council was scheduled later in the day
> to vote on resolutions supporting the goals of
> the Kyoto Protocol and committing Seattle City
> Light -- the city's public electric utility -- to a
> policy of zero net greenhouse gas emissions.
>
> "Every city and every individual can take steps
> to reduce global warming," Schell said. "Cities are
> where most emissions occur -- and where the
> solutions must begin. We can't afford to wait for
> the federal government to do this."
>
> City Councilmembers Heidi Wills, Margaret
> Pageler, Jim Compton and Richard Conlin joined
> Mayor Schell for the announcement.
>
> One of the City Council resolutions adopts the
> Kyoto goal of a 7 percent reduction in
> greenhouse gas emissions. But Seattle thinks it
> can do better, perhaps even tripling that
> reduction by 2010. The city will calculate the
> total greenhouse gas emissions produced by city
> operations before determining a more specific
> reduction goal.
>
> The other resolution formalizes Seattle City
> Light's commitment to become the first major
> utility in the country to achieve zero net
> greenhouse-gas emissions. City Light has already
> sold its share of a coal-fired steam plant and will
> fully mitigate emissions from its remaining
> fossil-fuel resources -- 600,000 metric tons of
> carbon dioxide each year. In addition, over the
> next decade, the utility will produce 100 average
> megawatts of power through energy efficiency
> and conservation and acquire another 100
> average megawatts of non-hydro renewable
> energy.
>
> Examples of greenhouse gas mitigation include:
> improving the energy efficiency of processes
> that produce CO2; substituting waste material
> for raw material in industrial processes to reduce
> energy use; preserving forests or planting trees,
> which absorb CO2; implementing transportation
> programs that reduce vehicle trips; and building
> facilities that can turn waste heat into power
> generation.
>
> "Our actions are ambitious but realistic," said
> City Councilmember Heidi Wills, chair of the
> council's Energy and Environmental Policy
> Committee. "We believe we can triple the
> reductions called for in the Kyoto Protocol and
> demonstrate to other cities what the possibilities
> are."
>
> Schell and the City Councilmembers disputed the
> notion that significantly reducing greenhouse gas
> emissions is too costly, stressing instead the
> economic benefits of such actions. In the Pacific
> Northwest, for example, climate change
> threatens the cycle of coastal rain and mountain
> snowpack -- the very foundation of the region's
> hydroelectric system and forest-, fish- and
> recreation-based economy.
>
> City officials made these points about the
> economic benefits of Seattle's
> anti-global-warming policies:
>
> -- City Light's commitment to renewable
> resources and energy
> efficiency is a good business decision, providing
> enough power
> to meet the utility's total projected load growth
> over the
> next 10 years. Conservation is among the least
> expensive
> sources of power, and renewable resources
> expand City Light's
> energy portfolio and reduce the need for
> wholesale market power.
>
> -- The fact that City Light's energy is free of
> greenhouse gases
> is attractive to many businesses. Being "green"
> gives certain
> businesses an advantage in the marketplace.
> Representatives of
> climate-neutral businesses joined city officials in
> support of the resolutions.
>
> -- Some of the money available for greenhouse
> gas mitigation
>
> projects will go into the local economy.
> Alternative
> transportation programs, partnerships with
> businesses seeking
> to become climate neutral, and development of
> energy-efficient
> technologies are examples of potential local
> projects.
>
> -- The cost of not acting could be extraordinarily
> high. At its
> current pace, global warming will reduce the
> region's snowpack
> by 50 percent over the next 50 years,
> threatening drinking
> water, irrigation and hydroelectric supplies.
>
> The stakes are too high, the mayor and
> Councilmembers concluded, to sit and wait while
> national and international debate grinds on. They
> appealed to other municipalities to join Seattle's
> initiative.
>
> CONTACT: Mayor's Office | Dick Lilly,
> 206/684-8865 | or | City Light | Dan Williams,
> 206/615-0978
>
>     #   #   #
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
> This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by REPP/CREST, creator of
> Solstice http://www.crest.org, and BuildingGreen, Inc., publisher of
> Environmental Building News and GreenSpec http://www.BuildingGreen.com
> ______________________________________________________________________
>


______________________________________________________________________
This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by REPP/CREST, creator of
Solstice http://www.crest.org, and BuildingGreen, Inc., publisher of
Environmental Building News and GreenSpec http://www.BuildingGreen.com
______________________________________________________________________