Counties try to cut greenhouse gases
By Larry Wheeler, Gannett News Service
12/8/07
WASHINGTON — As Congress struggles with legislation to curb greenhouse gas
emissions that lead to global warming, local communities are wrestling with how to
reduce their own carbon footprints.
A top goal of both the federal and local efforts is to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide,
the most abundant of the six major greenhouse gases. One key congressional bill seeks a
70% cut in such emissions by 2050.
Momentum for congressional approval is growing, but the Bush administration opposes
mandatory limits on carbon dioxide emissions.
Meanwhile, officials in more than 700 cities and counties have embraced climate change
strategies on their own. Some examples:
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Officials in Dane County, Wis., installed energy-efficient lighting and took other
steps to cut electricity use in county buildings. The changes saved about $150,000
a year and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by about 2,500 tons per year.
In New York's Nassau County, wind turbines supply 10% of the power used at
county facilities. Energy efficiency upgrades to county buildings are expected to
save $800,000 per year. The county also has one of the state's largest fleets of
vehicles powered by alternative fuels.
Warwick, R.I., replaced 113 traffic lights and 59 crosswalk signals with LED
(light emitting diode) lights that draw less power. City officials estimate the
change reduced carbon emissions by 1,200 tons per year.
Officials in many counties have signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement or
participate in the Sierra Club's "Cool Cities" and "Cool Counties" campaigns. Others
have joined the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, which helps
communities measure and reduce local greenhouse gas emissions.
Seventeen states also have adopted greenhouse gas reduction targets, either through
executive order or legislation.
Power plants and other industrial facilities in the U.S. released more than 2.7 billion tons
of carbon dioxide into the air this year, according to estimates compiled by the Center for
Global Development, a non-profit Washington think tank.
That accounts for only about one-third of annual emissions from all residential,
commercial, industrial and transportation sources, according to the Energy Information
Administration. Nevertheless, the estimates indicate which communities have the most at
stake as Congress considers greenhouse gas controls that could make a variety of
products and services more expensive.
The three counties with the highest estimated emissions this year were San Juan County
in New Mexico (28.5 million tons), Harris County, Texas, (28 million tons), and Gallia
County in Ohio (26 million tons), according to a Gannett News Service analysis of the
Center for Global Development data.
Many rural counties rank among the nation's top sources of carbon dioxide emissions
because they are home to large coal-burning power plants.
Harris County includes Houston, the self-proclaimed "energy capital of the world." In
May, Mayor Bill White launched an effort to transform the city into the "energy
efficiency capital of the world." The campaign distributed 10,000 compact florescent
light bulbs and urged residents to take simple steps to reduce energy consumption.
"That's good stuff," said Nan Hildreth, co-founder of Houston Climate Protection
Alliance. "The challenge in Texas is recognizing just how easy it is to save energy and
then implementing all those little bitty things. Energy has been so cheap, it's been easy to
waste it."
In at least 911 counties, carbon dioxide emissions totaled more than 10,000 tons this year,
according to the GNS analysis. Under one bill being considered by Congress, power
plants and other facilities that release that much CO2 a year would have to curtail their
emissions.
In the last decade, pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has intensified, fueled by
evidence that human-caused warming could have catastrophic effects on humans and
animals. World leaders are meeting now in Bali, Indonesia, on a new global plan to
reduce greenhouse gases.
In the United States, many communities don't have enough money to invest in programs
aimed at reducing emissions.
In Walker County, Ala., where a coal-burning power plant spewed an estimated 8.3
million tons of CO2 into the air this year, county commission Chairman Bruce Hamrick
said, "We're not blessed with extra funding, even though those programs might be a good
idea."
That's a common complaint, said Paul Ferguson, chairman of the Green Government
Committee at the National Association of Counties.
"Local governments have their hands full with a variety of problems," said Ferguson,
who also heads the Arlington County, Va., board of commissioners. "Although concern
about climate change isn't on the top of the list or in many cases even on the radar screen
for many localities, I believe that is slowly changing."