Mount Rainier Technical Assistance Proposal:
Municipal Community Carbon Footprint
Primary Municipal Point of Contact:
Veronica Owens, Assistant City Manager
vowens@mountrainiermd.org
301-985-6585
Green Team Contacts:
MaryLee Haughwout
Mount Rainier Green Team Chair
mhaughwout@hotmail.com
608-287-6445
Bill Updike
Former Council member and current Green Team member
updikew@yahoo.com
Joseph Jakuta
Green Team member
hlinak@gmail.com
Dear Sustainable Maryland,
Thank you for the opportunity for free technical assistance from University of Maryland students
to create a Municipal Community Carbon Footprint. This letter is to express the City of Mount
Rainier’s interest in this exciting opportunity and to convey our commitment to work with the
students to provide the necessary information to make the project a success. Please see below for
details on vision for this project of the 6 month period and history of our City’s past engagement
in carbon reduction. For reference we are also attached the City’s prior Climate Action Plan from
2000.
Detailed Project Description:
In 1999, the city of Mount Rainier became one of the first cities in the region to develop a
climate action plan. Since then a lot has changed with both the efforts Mount Rainier has
undertaken to reduce its carbon footprint and the technical tools available for conducting such
estimates. An updated assessment is necessary for Mount Rainier to continue to be a green
leader among municipalities in Maryland, and to help the city reduce its carbon footprint on the
planet.
This project would require the students to work closely with Mount Rainier city staff and the
Mount Rainier Green Team to identify existing data available for use in calculating the city’s
carbon footprint and analyze additional data from available resources (e.g. PEPCO, WMATA,
etc.) where data has not yet been consolidated. The completed greenhouse gas inventory would
look at carbon dioxide and CO2 equivalent emissions methane. The Mount Rainier Green Team
will provide the students with a review of data prior to the completion deadline as a quality
assurance check.
The second aspect of the project would require the students to review the city’s carbon footprint
and develop recommendations as to areas where Mount Rainier can reduce its emissions. These
recommendations should consider the size of potential reductions, cost of reductions, and the
time horizon for the impact of the reductions. The recommendations should also align with the
city’s sustainability plan.
The project would include 1-2 initial meetings with Green Team and city officials to help
develop a list of available data and other resources to be used in the project. The city and Green
Team point persons will also schedule regular monthly meetings with the students in order to
discuss project process, research questions and concerns, etc. The city and Green Team point
persons will also be available by email or phone if questions arise in between meetings. The
students would then meet with the full Green Team and city officials approximately one month
prior to completion in order to summarize the findings and receive feedback before publication
of the final climate plan.
The deliverable would be a final report that calculates Mount Rainier’s carbon footprint and
provides recommendations to reduce the City’s carbon emissions. Also all spreadsheets,
databases, etc., created during the climate plan development should be provided to the city in a
format to allow for future updates to be made. The final plan will then be brought forth to the
city council for official adoption and further action.
The project will allow the students to develop a variety of skills to employ in a career after
college in the environmental field. Students will gain in their understanding of environmental
data, develop the capacity to work with government officials, and get real world experience
writing a recommendation of policies for the city to pursue.
Background on the Mount Rainier Green Team
The Mount Rainier Green Team works to create a healthy and sustainable city for our residents,
and thereby serve as a model for how a small city can achieve sustainable outcomes through
community participation. Our group works to leverage the energy and leadership of our
residents to decrease our environmental footprint and create a more livable future for the
community and planet. The Green Team consists of a core team that meets monthly. We are
made up of professionals in the community who are interested in sustainability issues.
The city of Mount Rainier, has long understood that environmental sustainability, quality of life,
and economic prosperity are related features of the most successful communities. In the early
1970s, the city committed itself to improve air and water quality and establish an
environmentally friendly city. Through adopted legislation, municipal codes, and the
implementation of a sustainability plan, the city has routinely shown that it supports greening
initiatives and Maryland smart growth goals. In 2012, Mount Rainier became the second city in
the State of Maryland to be certified through the Sustainable MD Certified program and remains
the highest scoring municipality to date.