Sun worship and climate change!
Do you think putting exclamation points at the end of every headline is annoying?
It’s my attempt to make up for writing lame headlines. It’s my only strategy.
Are you reading this on Thursday? That’s alright. I’m trying to post the conservation plan pieces on Fridays, but I don’t feel like “scheduling” the post for later. So it’s going up now, and we’ll all be ahead of the game.
First, though, do you know what happens when our computers go haywire in the newsroom? We call our tech people.
Today, when I came back to the newsroom, I found the tech crew sitting on the lawn outside in the sun, and now, you know who they are, too. In the photo, that’s Tom Vulpis, left, and Zander Beck, right, both pictured without their capes. They’re smart and helpful gents.
On our topic of the day, though, we’ve hit page 10 on the Conservation & Climate Action Plan. It goes through milestones, such as resolutions signed and a “green team” formed.
On page 11, we hit something a little more interesting. To tackle emissions, you have to know what’s emitting, and how much.
“The largest contributing sectors to the city’s carbon footprint were wastewater treatment, municipal buildings and municipal vehicles,” reads the plan.
That’s in order, so the sewer plant emits the most CO2. Employee commuting, outdoor lighting and “water and misc.” follow those other top three items.
The estimates are based on 2008, though, and that was six years ago. And “city operations are dynamic and constantly changing,” the plans says.
So guess what?
“The Task Force recommends that the greenhouse gas emissions inventory for municipal operations be regularly updated every two years, starting in 2013.”
That’s now. Doing the inventory was a big job the first time around, and I wonder if updating it will be easier or if it means mean heavy lifting every couple years.
I checked in with Mr. Action Plan Chase Jones, and here is his response:
“Updating the emissions inventory is still a goal for this year – and we hope to do it. I don’t have an exact date, but we are taking a few steps in preparation. First, we are working on an arrangement to utilize a software called Utility Trac Plus. It will allow us to review, analyze and audit all City utility accounts – in one place. This organization will save lots of time when moving forward with the emissions inventory update. Also we are forming the Conservation & Climate Action Plan Technical Advisory Team that was part of the resolution adopting the Plan. That Team is made up of four Mayor appointees and four Energy and Climate Team members. I think that team will be in place by the end of the month. I see the technical expertise and guidance from that Team being crucial in the emissions inventory update. Once we get those things in place we will start to move forward.”
– Keila Szpaller
