12/1/2008: Does Your State Have a Greenhouse Gas Plan?
From: "Jay Corbalis" < jcorbalis@njfuture.org >
To: "gmla" <gmla@lists.onenw.org>
Sent: Monday, Dec. 1, 2008 11:27 AM
Subject: [gmla] Does Your State Have a Greenhouse Gas Plan?
We in New Jersey are eagerly awaiting the release of the State's greenhouse gas plan from our
Department of Environmental Protection. The plan is intended to be a road map to meet the
governor's ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets.
We at NJ Future have been pushing hard for the inclusion of VMT reduction targets as a means to
address the land-use changes that will be needed to meet the goals. We're also positioning
ourselves to be a go-to organization for the media to contact for comment when the plan is
released. One of the things we'd like to be able to tell them is what other states are doing on this
front. To that end:
- Does your state have a greenhouse gas reduction target?
- If so, how was that target created (legislation, executive order, etc.)?
- Does your state have a greenhouse gas reduction plan?
- If so, does it address land-use at all?
Thank you in advance for your help
************************
Jay Corbalis
Policy Analyst
New Jersey Future
»
12/1/08 Maryland does have a climate action plan and it actually does have quite a bit
on land use and transportation in its 42 recommendations.. These include strategies
that protect from development certain lands include farm and forest, Land Use and
Location Efficiency measures, transit improvements, and pay as you drive insurance
(and we have the first insurance company offering this here).
--Dru Schmidt-Perkins, 1000 Friends of MD
»
12/1/08 www.scclimatechange.us/ is the web site for our climate plan. We completed
it in July and have subsequently solved the global warming problem. This plan has
everything in it including land use, VMT reduction, etc.
--Dana Beach, SCCCL
»
12/1/08 Yes, to all your questions, see www.flclimatechange.us. (Florida)
--Jim Murley, GMLA alumnus
»
12/1/08 Here is a (hard to find) link to Vermont's Climate Change Plan. Our Governor
embraced it, and has been running from it ever since. It also addresses land use, land
conservation and VMT reduction.
http://www.anr.state.vt.us/imaging/ANRdocs/secoffice/climatechange/2007OctGCCCF
inalRpt.pdf
--Brian Shupe, Vermont Natural Resources Council
»
12/1/10 We do have GHG reduction targets of: 15% by 2015, 30% by 2025, and 80%
by 2050. I wouldn't call it a plan because it isn't formally adopted by the state, but after
the goals were passed in 2007 the state created the MN Climate Change Advisory Group
that came up with 55+ strategies that, if adopted, would meet that goal. The process
was led by the Center for Climate Strategies (CCS), which did these Groups for other
states as well. Ours did have very good language on land use and transit. The challenge
will be getting the Gov and Legislature to move the recommendations into law.
The recommendations are here: http://www.mnclimatechange.us/
All of CCS's state plans are here: http://www.climatestrategies.us/
--John Bailey, 1000 Friends of MN
»
12/1/10 Washington State has both reduction goals and a plan. GHG emission
reduction goals first adopted by Executive Order and then formally adopted as legally
binding reduction requirements by the legislature: get to 1990 levels by 2020, 25%
below by 2035, and 50% reduction by 2050 (which is forecasted to be 70% below BAU).
We also have per capita VMT reduction goals - reduce by 18% by 2020, 30% by 2035,
and 50% by 2050. There's a climate action plan as well, heavy on the process but
includes a lot related to land use and transportation.
Land Use and Transportation related recommendations specifically can be found here
(http://www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange/growthmgt.htm) and here
(http://www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange/2008CATdocs/IWG/tran/110508_transportat
ion_iwg_final_report.pdf.)
Entire climate action plan is found here
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange/2008CATdocs/ltw_app_v2.pdf.
--April Putney, Futurewise
»
12/2/10 It would be really useful if someone could summarize all of this in a chart, at
some point. I'm most interested in actual implementation, as opposed to what is
written. Talk has no price tag. We have an elaborate climate change action plan, with
over 50 goals, including land use, but it isn't at all clear that anyone understands it,
outside of the state house, or that it is really being implemented by anyone. It feels a
little bit like our tendency to focus, here, on the writing of comp plans, with no real
sustained effort to see them converted into ordinances or law.
--Alan Caron, Grow Smart Maine
»
12/2/10 Pew tracks info on every state's greenhouse gas emissions plans. Nearly half
of the states have them at this point, and most include a land use/transportation sector
component, I believe. Not many include hard and fast VMT targets, though
Pew info:
http://www.pewclimate.org/what_s_being_done/in_the_states/emissionstargets_map.c
fm
http://www.pewclimate.org/what_s_being_done/in_the_states/state_action_maps.cfm
WA state passed VMT targets last year legislatively; NY has them (done
administratively); MD is considering them; CA's SB 375 links land use and climate
through requiring regional transportation plans to include climate targets that will be
determined over the next 2 years.
--Kate Rube
»
12/3/08 Thanks, Kate. Montana has a Climate Change Action Plan that the Governor
adopted and that includes VMT reduction targets, but, like Alan points out about the
Maine plan, our plan in Montana has not been implemented even though it is now more
than a year old.
--Tim Davis, Montana Smart Growth Coalition
»
12/6/08 I'm chiming in late on this. Iowa doesn't have a GHG reduction target, we only
have recommendations on how to meet two scenarios. 50% by 2050 and 90% by 2050.
In climate policy terms, a scenario is different than a target.
The Iowa legislature created the IA Climate Change Advisory Council to provide
recommendations of different scenarios, one which had to be 50%. The Council chose to
provide one additional scenario, which is 90%. We don't necessarily have a GHG
reduction plan at this point. Some may consider the recommendations to be kind of an
informal plan, but the Council has not submitted final recommendations to the
legislature yet. (But will in a couple weeks)
-The recommendations do address land use and set VMT reduction targets through
smart growth and transit improvement and expansion. This can be found at:
http://www.iaclimatechange.us/ewebeditpro/items/O90F20332.PDF
--LaVon Griffeon, 1000 Friends of IA