Why does it matter?
Energy conservation is no longer a lifestyle choice -
it's an imperative. Non-renewable sources of energy impact
land, water, and air across geographical scales. Locally,
Colorado generates most of its electricity by burning coal.
Coal-fired power plants are one of the largest sources of
air pollution in Colorado and in Boulder County. Not only is
this pollution bad for your health, but it adds greenhouse
gases to our atmosphere and, ultimately, contributes to the
climate change we are witnessing on a global level.
Climate Change
Increasing
evidence and overwhelming scientific consensus tell us that our
air pollution is having a profound effect on our global
climate. The
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),
considered by many scientists to be a conservative process,
recently released its 2007 report for policy makers,
"Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis." The
21-page summary, based on the contributions of 2,000
scientists from 154 countries, states that evidence
overwhelmingly indicates the climate is changing - more
rapidly in the last 30 years than ever before - and that
human activities are a primary contributing factor. The
report indicates that significant changes are upon us, and
the time to act is now.
Key findings include:
- Average temperatures from 1950-2000 were higher than
during any other 50 years in the past five centuries in
the Northern Hemisphere.
- There is a 90 percent likelihood that the increase
in temperature is due to rising amounts of greenhouse
gasses from human activities.
- Average arctic temperatures have risen at nearly
twice the global rate for the past century. The maximum
land area covered by seasonally frozen ground has fallen
by 7 percent during that time.
- The rate of rise in sea levels accelerated during the
last decade of the 20th century. Between 1961 and 1993,
sea levels were rising at an average rate of 7 inches
every century; yet between 1993 and 2003, the rates sped
up to more than 12 inches per century.
- The intensity (not frequency) of hurricanes has
increased and will continue to increase because of the
energy associated with warming oceans and more water
vapor from evaporation.
- Concentrations of carbon dioxide have increased by
more than 35 percent since the dawn of the Industrial
Age and are rising at an accelerating rate. The
heat-trapping ability of atmospheric carbon dioxide
increased 20 percent between 1995 and 2005.
The primary culprits cited for global warming are carbon dioxide emissions
- from the
fuels we burn for heat, electricity and transportation - and methane
emissions from livestock, mining, and landfills. The impacts of
climate change are dire:
- Elevated temperatures
- Increased risk and intensity of catastrophic storms
- Changing rainfall and crop productivity patterns
- Increased risk of drought
- Loss of alpine meadows and other ecosystems
Read more about climate change.
Setting a path to sustainability
In 2005, Boulder County joined more than 200 cities in the United States in
making a commitment to address global change at the local level.
The Boulder County Board of Commissioners passed a
resolution
adopting a sustainable energy path for Boulder County and a
Climate Change Action Plan to achieve aggressive short and long term emission reduction
goals. A key element of the resolution is the County's
commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to target levels
specified by the Kyoto Protocol. The County's Climate Action
Plan began with a
Greenhouse Gas Inventory to assess current and
historical sources of emissions. Based on this data,
analysts drafted a
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Report, which analyzes what
effort would be needed to meet the Commissioners' goal of a
7% reduction below 1990 levels by 2012. The analysis informs
us that achieving this goal will be a significant challenge.
The
Consortium of Cities Energy Strategy
Taskforce developed a countywide
Sustainable Energy
Plan (SEP) that provides specific, long- and
short-term strategies to reduce greenhouse gas pollution
across Boulder County communities. The Boulder County
Commissioners approved adoption of the plan in January 2008
and the plan has been approved by the city of Boulder,
Lafayette, Longmont, Louisville, Lyons, Nederland and
Superior. These are just a few of the County's current
efforts around energy efficiency and clean energy:
The County Commissioners are also working
cooperatively with other governmental entities to implement
change in all the communities within Boulder County. As part of this effort, we are working closely
with the City of Boulder, which already has a
Climate Action Plan and passed a
Climate Action Plan tax to support the city's effort to
meet Kyoto Protocol goals for greenhouse gas emissions
reduction. Finally, Boulder County is contributing to the
countywide
ClimateSmart campaign, which includes an interactive,
informative Web site and a variety of public education and
outreach programs. Links and Resources
|
Boulder
County strives to conserve energy and utilize renewable energy
sources. The County also promotes programs that help the entire community work towards energy
efficiency and renewable energy use.