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On the Issues
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Sustainability
Efforts to combat global climate change and create a culture that can sustain itself must
become a central organizing feature of our next years on the planet. Although we
certainly can’t fix everything on our own on the local level, we can commit to providing a
model for what can be done locally.
Part of that is reevaluating all aspects of the internal operations of the county. Among
many efforts to work on our own footprint, we’re committed to building LEED buildings or
their equivalent with a focus on acquiring the points that make the most difference in
reduction of greenhouse gases. We now buy hybrids vehicles, are exploring plug-in hybrids,
and are running graders and snowplows on biodiesel. We have also launched a zero-waste initiative
that will divert the bulk of our waste from the landfill and we’re working to put solar
photovoltaic systems on the rooftops of county building –- the first set of systems, likely
to be installed next year, will generate half a megawatt of clean electrical power.
More far-reaching will be our efforts to work with other local governments and with residents
and businesses on programs that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In collaboration with
the cities and towns in the county, we developed our countywide Sustainable Energy Plan,
which is a comprehensive set of strategies charting the course toward reducing greenhouse
gas emissions countywide to 40% below 2005 levels by 2020. Our goal is twice that set by
the Governor and will set the standard for the role local governments can play in addressing
climate change when they work together.
The most exciting program in the works – we’ll try to roll it out at the end of this year –
is our Clean Energy Financing District, made possible by changes to state law this past year.
We will make low interest loans available to residents and businesses to be used for renewable
energy systems and energy efficiency projects. The loans will be paid back over time through
assessments on property tax bills. We also recently passed very strong green building requirements
that will address new construction; this program addresses the improvements to the existing
housing and commercial building stock that we’ll need to see in order to meet our greenhouse
gas reduction goals.
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