Westchester Action Plan, 2008 - Westchester County Government

More documents

Recommendations

Info

ICLEI, in conjunction with the U.S. Green Building Council and the Center for American Progress (CAP), has developed a new tool for members that addresses sustainability: the Star Community Index iv . It provides a new, standardized framework for local governments to plan, track and claim their environmental and sustainability work. Clean Air-Cool Climate has a tool kit to assist colleges and universities in making their campuses more climate friendly. The tool kit includes an inventory calculator v designed for use by colleges and universities. The CCP campaign is structured around five milestones that local governments commit to undertake. Milestone 1. Conduct a baseline emissions inventory and forecast. Milestone 2. Adopt an emissions reduction target for the forecast year. Milestone 3. Develop a Local Action Plan through a multi-stakeholder process. Milestone 4. Implement policies and measures contained in their Local Action Plan. Milestone 5. Monitor and verify results. Businesses and similar organizations may find that developing an inventory is more complex. There are many decisions that must be made regarding ownership of emissions and what emissions to include. For example, if a business ships merchandise using an independent transporter, the emissions could be considered to belong to the business or to the transporter. To assist in the decisions, protocols exist that define proper accounting processes. Unfortunately, these protocols are not always consistent. In deciding on the appropriate protocol, organizations have to consider the purposes for their inventory. For example, some organizations may choose to become members of EPA’s Climate Leaders vi and make a commitment to voluntary reductions. If so, they would need to consider Climate Leaders guidance vii in developing their inventory. Westchester County Airport is developing a GHG inventory using the ISO 14064-1 Standard. The scope of the inventory includes emissions from: - the landing and takeoff of aircraft; - all stationary sources such as boilers, furnaces and generators; - all ground based mobile equipment such as transport equipment operated by the airport, its tenants, or its contracted operators; and - vehicle rentals where such rentals originate and terminate at a car rental facility located at the airport. Not included are buses, limos or personal vehicles utilized by passengers. Ceres Climate Risk Toolkit for Corporate Leaders viii can help companies assess and understand their risk and vulnerability to climate change. Developed by Ceres and the Investor Network on Climate Risk, the toolkit is targeted at corporate leaders and directors to assist them in addressing the strategic and financial challenges associated with global climate change. Attachment 4: Getting Started Westchester Action Plan, 2008 4-2
Other organizations may want to make reduction and trade credits. In this case they may want to consider joining the Chicago Climate Exchange ix (CCX). If so, they would rely on the CCX protocols. The World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WRI /WBCSD) have a widely recognized GHG Protocol xi , which forms the basis for many other protocols. Based on the WRI/WBCSD GHG Protocol, ISO 14064-1:2006 Greenhouse gases xii – Part 1: Specification with guidance at the organization level for quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals has been accepted internationally and is widely recognized as a best practice for developing a GHG inventory. Bedford has set a communitywide GHG reduction goal of 20 percent by 2020. The town has developed a website x to help the community make reductions and has initiated a GHG reduction pledge in which citizens can participate. Step 2: Set a Reduction Goal Just as a reduction goal has been recommended for the entire Community of Westchester, members of all sectors need to evaluate their inventory and set a goal that will allow them to contribute to the overall needed reductions. Start with the 10 percent challenge. Businesses and households should take the 10 percent challenge to reduce their GHG footprint by 10 percent by 2010. Businesses are encouraged to initiate internal green teams to meet the challenge. The Challenge started in Burlington, Vermont, but participation is now open to In 2006-07 the Scarsdale Board of Education passed a resolution to reduce the District’s carbon emissions in the year 2020 to 10 percent below the 1990 level of GHG emissions, this despite the significant amount of square footage added to the District’s buildings since 1990. all. For information on taking the 10 percent challenge and signing up for the challenge, go to The 10 percent Challenge: Alliance for Climate Action xiii . Step 3: Develop an Action Plan Using the recommendations provided in this plan, members of all sectors can develop plans to achieve reductions and to support the development of capacity to achieve reductions. The plan should identify actions and set timeframes. Attachment 4: Getting Started Westchester Action Plan, 2008 4-3
Page 2 and 3:
Contents Westchester Action Plan fo
Page 4 and 5:
As a community, we need to respond
Page 6 and 7:
a) Enhance current regional plannin
Page 8 and 9:
To find out how the actions of all
Page 10 and 11:
County Government Action Summary Pr
Page 12 and 13:
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Require all utiliti
Page 14 and 15:
Evaluate potential strategies for i
Page 16 and 17:
Implement adaptation strategies in
Page 18 and 19:
Evaluate creating a model ordinance
Page 20 and 21:
Replace incandescent bulbs with com
Page 22 and 23:
Transportation Take Direct Transpor
Page 24 and 25: Provide information and training to
Page 26 and 27: Waste Reduction, Recycling and Gree
Page 28 and 29: Business Action Summary Provided be
Page 30 and 31: ♦ ♦ Promote in grant programs,
Page 32 and 33: Develop contractual requirements fo
Page 34 and 35: To find out how the actions of all
Page 36 and 37: Perform an energy audit on all exis
Page 38 and 39: Change staff and student vehicle op
Page 40 and 41: Waste Reduction, Recycling and Gree
Page 42 and 43: Households Action Summary Provided
Page 44 and 45: Change vehicle operating behavior b
Page 46 and 47: Climate Change, Global Warming, and
Page 48 and 49: • Contraction of the Greenland ic
Page 50 and 51: A second related hazard for Westche
Page 52 and 53: Sources i Intergovernmental Panel o
Page 54 and 55: The mission of the Task Force was t
Page 56 and 57: Early in the process, the subject c
Page 58 and 59: Representing County Executive Andre
Page 60 and 61: Sector Committees Government Sector
Page 62 and 63: The County retained a consultant to
Page 64 and 65: GHG Inventory and Reduction Goal We
Page 66 and 67: About the Inventory Process The fir
Page 68 and 69: Electricity Westchester County is s
Page 70 and 71: This category also includes emissio
Page 72 and 73: Sources i ICLEI—Local Governments
Page 76 and 77: Step 4: Implement Actions Members o
Page 78 and 79: Energy Current Situation...........
Page 80 and 81: work well in traffic signals, parki
Page 82 and 83: What kind of actions might be recom
Page 84 and 85: As with existing buildings, NYSERDA
Page 86 and 87: • Geothermal - Geothermal heat pu
Page 88 and 89: Funding these Actions All individua
Page 90 and 91: Promote Realignment of Regulation a
Page 92 and 93: Develop New Sources. Business shoul
Page 94 and 95: Education and Information Sharing A
Page 96 and 97: xxviii New York Power Authority: Se
Page 98 and 99: us fleet by using ultra-low-sulfur
Page 100 and 101: Replace Vehicles To reduce GHG emis
Page 102 and 103: Purchase Carbon Offsets Consider pu
Page 104 and 105: • Proof of payment and off board
Page 106 and 107: Showcase Successes and Lead by Exam
Page 108 and 109: Sources i ii iii NuRide http://www.
Page 110 and 111: use patterns and a presentation of
Page 112 and 113: Model Code Examples Clustering: Rec
Page 114 and 115: development goals. In establishing
Page 116 and 117: ♦ ♦ Municipalities should partn
Page 118 and 119: Sources i Pound Ridge http://www.e-
Page 120 and 121: Currently, the wastewater treatment
Page 122 and 123: Protection of Infrastructure Develo
Page 124 and 125:
• Review building stormwater rete
Page 126 and 127:
Sources i ii iii Center for Watersh
Page 128 and 129:
The County Government has enacted t
Page 130 and 131:
Improve Waste Reduction, Reuse and
Page 132 and 133:
Specific green purchasing recommend
Page 134 and 135:
• Identify opportunities to devel
Page 136 and 137:
Education and Information Sharing A
Page 138 and 139:
Business: Waste Reduction Opportuni
Page 140 and 141:
Government: Green Purchasing Opport
Page 142 and 143:
Guidance for Using the Action Plan
show all

Westchester Action Plan, 2008 - Westchester County Government

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?