-
Title
-
Eng
Local solutions to global problems: Tumwater, Washington and the development of a climate protection program
-
Date
-
2008
-
Creator
-
Eng
Deffobis, Andrew
-
Subject
-
Eng
Environmental Studies
-
extracted text
-
Local Solutions to Global Problems: Tumwater, Washington and the Development ofa
Climate Protection Program
by
Andrew Deffobis
A The sis
Submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree
Master of Environmental Study
The Evergreen State College
October 2008
© 2008 by Andrew Deffobis . All rights reserved.
This Thesis for the Master of Environmental Study De gree
by
Andrew Deffobis
has been approved for
The Evergreen State College
by
EJ. Zita, Ph.D.
Member of the Faculty, Physics
~.D
Adjunct Professor
.3 \ OCon be.-.(" ?-OO ~
Date
Abstract
This thesis explores the concept of climate change and the myriad problems it presents to
Earth's natural and human systems, and also describes technological, political, and
societal solutions that have been identified and implemented on various scales around the
world. At the center of the thesis is a case study of the City of Tumwater, Washington,
which signed the US Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement (which is based on the
international Kyoto Protocol). In 2007, the City set about determining its baseline and
current greenhouse gas emissions and also explored methods of reducing those emissions
by 7% below 2000 levels by 2012 . The central research question of this thesis is whether
the City of Tumwater would be able to meet its climate change mitigation goal. Many
technological and behavioral strategies were identified and presented to City Coun cil,
though it was determined that the City could not meet its goal without investing in
renewable energy through its electricity provider. In two Council meetings in December
2007 , the Council allocated funding for the 2008 fiscal year in order to make energy
efficiency upgrades to its operations and also to continue its greenhouse monitoring
efforts. It also included funding for further climate change mitigation efforts in its six
year capital facilities plan.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1. A Review of Clima te Change Issues
1
Introduction
.... ..... ...... ..... ......... ... .. _
Th esis Outli ne .
.
Atm ospher ic Chan ges
,."
_
An thropo genic Influ ence .......
.
..
,
Obse rved Tr ends ._ .... .............
_._ .. _
Global Effects
_
_
Local Effects
_
_.._
_
Unce rtainty _
_ _.. __
"
Chapter 2. Past, Present and Future Mitigation
__ .. __ 1
1
2
3
4
_8
11
16
21
Intr oduction
21
Mitigation Strate gie s ........... ....
.
" ,...... .
,
22
T echnolo gical Strategie s ........
.
,....
.
_. 22
23
Energy Supply
Transp ortati on
_
25
__
_28
Buildings
,................................ ............ ...................... .. .
29
Industry _
Agricultur e and Forestr y ...
..
30
.
31
Soc ietal Changes ..... ..................
Lifestyle Changes. ...............
.
31
_
_ 33
P olitical Action
_
33
Intern ati onal Efforts
_
35
Climate Action in the Unite d States
44
Clim ate Change Action in Tu mw ater, WA
Chapte r 3. Quantification and Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emission" in Tumwater,
Washington
46
City Overview
Creation of a Climate Protection Program
2000 and 2006 Ener gy Audits
_.... .... ...............
2006 Audits
Build ing Se ct or .............
..
W ater and Sew er Operations ....
Streetlights & Traffic Sigrlals
Motor P ool..
_..................... ...
Em ployee Commute
_
Waste
_
2000 Audits __
Electr icity Usage for Buil ding s, W ater/Sewage
Mot or Pool. ...
Commute Tr ip Reduction
"
Waste..
..............
..,..,.........
Gree nhouse Gas Emissio ns Totals
_
,
46
46
_ 50
51
,.. ............... .
51
52
..
...54
.54
.... ...... .
_._
55
_
56
57
an d Li ghtin g
57
..
57
_
,.......
. . 58
.
,.
.. 58
_..
..
_ 59
_
_
IV
Chapt er 4. Identification of Greenh ou se G::lS Emissions Re du ction
Measures
Pu get Sound En er gy A u dit of Tumw at er C ity Hall Ener gy Consu mption
Meetin gs with Facilit ies (Buildi ng Sec tor)
.....................
.
Gene ral Re c 0 mrn endati 0 ns ..................
PSE W ater Audit & Internal Meetings for Water Sector
Motor P ool .. . ......
..... ........
..
Employee Co mmute & W aste
.
Pub lic Outreach
..... ..........
..
61
61
64
67
68
7 1
73
. 74
Chapt er 5. Creenhouse Gas Reduction Quantification of M ensures
Greenh ouse Gas Reduction by Sec tor
Buildin g Sector
Mot or Pool Sector
..
Oth er Secto rs..
Sum of Measures
Addition al Me asur es
Redu ction Effort s Currently Und erway
Tre e Plant ing..
Re cycling ........ ..
.
Hybrid & Ele ctric Vehicles
Golf Co urs e Measures
Flu orescent Ligh ting Up grade s
Ener gy Conservation
LE D Traffi c Signa ls
76
76
76
78
78
79
79
83
84
84
85
85
86
87
87
Chapter 6. Adoption Process for Greenhouse Cas Reduction Measures
Path of Mea sures through Proce ss
Evaluati on of Effi cacy of Tumwater's Climate Pr otecti on Program
88
88
91
Chapter 7. Future &- Re commeudations for the City of Tumwater
93
Conclusion
96
References
98
Appendix I: ICLEI Soft".." n> Inform..a tion
108
Appendix II: More Information on Climate Change Issues
114
Table of Figures
Figure I. Tumwater greenhouse gas emissions by sector, 2000 and 2006.
VI
Table of Tables
Table 1. Sea level rise predictions for Washington State, 2050 and 2100.
Table 2. 2006 energy usage by the City of Tumwater's muni cipal buildings.
Table 3. Motor fuel usage by the City of Tumwater in 2006.
Table 4. Total commute miles driven by City of Tumwater employees in 2005 by
schedule type.
Table 5. Greenhouse gas emissions by sector for 2000 and 2006.
Table 6. A listing of possible energy reduction strategies for Tumwater's municipal
buildings, by project type.
Table 7. Itemized greenhouse gas reduction potential for various strategies derived for
the City of Tumwater.
Table 8. Additional measures that could be taken to reduce the City of Tumwater's
greenhou se gas emissions.
Table 9. Greenhouse gas reduction measures proposed to Tumwater's General
Government Committee.
Vll
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the Tumwater General Governm ent Committee and City Council,
whose foresight to combat climate change is an inspiration to municipal governments
throughout the country. I would also like to thank City Mayor Ralph Osgood and City
Administrator Doug Baker for their assistance and unwavering support for this project.
Additionally, this thesis would not have been possible without the help of every
department within the City of Tumwater.
Much credit is also due to my thesis panel: EJ. Zita, Ph.D., member of The Evergreen
State College faculty, Kurt Unger, J.D., Ph.D., Adjunct Professor at The Evergreen State
College, and Jeremy Littell, research scientist with the JISAO CSES Climate Impacts
Group of the University of Seattle, Washington. Their support and encouragement as
well as their expertise in climate change issues proved to be an invaluable resour ce. In
the beginning stages of writing my thesis, I also received assistance from Cheri Lucas
Jennings, member of the Evergreen State College faculty.
I would also like to thank Ted Whitesell, Director of The Evergreen State College's
Master of Environmental Studies program, as well as JT Austin, assistant director of the
MES program, for their assistance during this process.
Lastly , I would like to thank my family, friends and colleagues, including Regan
Reineke, Randy Reineke, Bryant Carlson and Amy Calahan, for their assistance and
support.
V111
Local Solutions to Global Problems: Tumwater, Washington and the
Development of a Climate Protection Program
Chapter 1. A Review of Climate Change Issues
Introduction
Over the past several years, the issue of climate change has received
considerable attention in scientific communities, media outlets and in the general
population. The many threats that climate change poses, including sea level rise,
precipitation shifts and species extinction, combined with the debates about
approaches to mitigating anthropogenic influences on Earth's climate, have made
this a widely discussed topic around the world. The publication of the
Intergovenunental Panel on Climate Change's Fourth Assessment Report (FAR)
in 2007 has made it clear that human beings are "very likely" the primary cause of
heating trends in Earth 's atmosphere and have set in motion a process that is
already causing widespread effects that will ripple throughout the world, changing
the ways of life of human beings and a multitude of other species.
Thesis Outline
Chapter 1 discusses the background of climate change science, including
observed trends and impacts as well as future projections. Two scales of analysis
are presented, at both the global and Washington State levels. Chapter 2
describes climate change mitigation efforts at all scales and provides a partial
review of climate legislation. Much information for Chapters 1 and 2 came from
the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
1
The FAR reviews a vast amount of current climate change literature and includes
its own analyses and projections of climate trends. Chapter 3 details the
greenhouse gas emissions audit process undertaken for the City of Tumwater,
Washington. Chapter 4 describes the process of identifying greenhouse gas
emissions reduction strategies, while Chapter 5 provides a quantification of the
emissions reduction potential of these measures. Chapter 6 details the City of
Tumwater's political processes in adopting greenhouse gas reduction initiatives.
Chapter 7 includes future recommendations for the City's Climate Protection
Program.
Atmospheric Changes
In 2005, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (C0 2 ) , the most
prominent anthropogenic greenhouse gas, was measured at 379 parts per million
(ppm), a third higher than the preindustrial concentration and likely higher than it
has been in at least the past 650,000 years (Forster et aI., 2007; Denman et aI.,
2007). This data was presented in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change's (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report. The IPCC was created in 1988 by
the World Meteorological Organisation and the United Nations Environment
Programme. The reporting body consists of hundreds of experts who prepare and
evaluate publications on the grounds of scientific, technical and socioeconomic
content and accuracy. The IPCC is comprised of a Task Force on National
Greenhouse Gas Inventories and three working groups. The first working group
reports on "The Physical Science Basis of Climate Change", the second covers
2
"Climate Change Impact, Adaptation and Vulnerability", and the third deals with
"Mitigation of Climate Change", (http://www.ipcc.ch/abouUhow-the-ipcc-is
organized.htm).
Anthropogenic Influence
Since the IPCC's Third Assessment Report, published in 2001, very high
confidence exists among researchers that the net result of human activities since
1750 has led to a warming of Earth's atmosphere (Forster et al., 2007). Not all
human activities have led to warming. The emission of aerosols such as sulphate,
organic carbon and dust has produced a smaller cooling effect by their presence in
both the atmosphere and on some land surfaces (Forster et al., 2007). It is
becoming increasingly evident that the observed changes to Earth's climate and
natural systems are not only the result of natural temperature increases.
Only models that include both natural and anthropogenic climate forcings
are able to duplicate the observed increases in global mean surface temperature in
the
zo" century (Stott et al., 2006, as cited in Hegerl et al., 2007, p. 684).
Because global mean surface temperature increases have been associated with
anthropogenic forcing, the same conclusion can be drawn for trends influenced by
higher temperatures, such as increased atmospheric water vapor content over the
world's oceans (Hegerl et al., 2007). Recent glacial shrinkage is also probably
related to anthropogenic climatic forcing (Reichert et al., 2002a as cited in Hegerl
et al., 2007, p. 717). Overall, a combination of anthropogenic and natural climatic
warming influences has led to observed changes in Earth's natural systems .
3
Observed Trends
Several trends have been observed in recent years that are linked to
climate change with varying degrees of confidence. For eleven of the past twelve
years, surface temperatures have been the warmest in the instrumental record,
with a hundred year temperature increase of 0.74° C (1.3° F) (Trenberth et al.,
2007). The warming rate of the past fifty years is twice that of the past hundred
years (Trenberth et al., 2007). Additionally, ocean temperatures in at least the
upper 3,000 meters have increased since 1961 (Levitus , 2005, as cited in Bindoff
et al., 2007, p. 391).
Higher global temperatures are likely responsible for several documented
effects around the world . Glaciers and snow cover have, on average, declined
globally (Lemke et al., 2007). Although uncertainty exists, data suggest an
overall decline in the global cryosphere during the
zo" century, especially
between 1993 and 2003 (Lemke et al., 2007) . Satellite data has also shown that
since 1978, annual average arctic sea ice extent has declined by 2.7% per decade
(Comiso, 2003, as cited in Lemke et al., 2007, p. 351). Ice covers approximately
10% of Earth's land area, and the vast majority of the world 's land ice exists in
Greenland and Antarctica (Lemke et al., 2007). Overall , Greenlandic and
Antarctic ice sheets are growing smaller (Hegerl et al., 2007). The amount of ice
held in their massive ice sheets would, if fully melted , raise sea level by over 60
meters (Bamber et al., 2001 ; Lythe et. al., 2001; both as cited in Lemke et al.,
2007, p. 361).
4
Indeed , sea level rise is another result of a warming climate . Douglas
(2001) and Peltier (2001) found that sea level rose 1.8 mm per year duri ng the
previous 70 years (Douglas, 2001; Peltier, 2001 ; both as cited in Bindoff et aI.,
2007, p. 410). Miller and Douglas (2004, as cited in Bindoff et aI., 2007, p. 410)
concluded that in the
zo'' century, sea level rose at a rate of 1.5-2.0 mm per year.
In the period of 1993 to 2003, the rate of sea level rise was measured at 3.1 mm
per year (Cazanave & Narem, 2004; Leuliette et aI., 2004; both as cited in Bindoff
et aI., 2007 , p. 411). Greenland and Antarctica likely contributed to past sea level
rise events, as well. During the last interglacial period, melting of Greenland's ice
sheets likely resulted in a sea level rise of two to four meters (Jansen et aI., 2007).
Evidence exists that sea level during this time was four to six meters higher than
present, so melting of Antarctica's ice sheets may have contributed to sea level
rise as well (Scherer et aI., 1998; Overpeck et aI., 2006; both as cited in Jansen et
aI., 2007, p. 459). Current studies conducted over the past several years, though
producing wide variations in estimates of ice loss from these areas, have led to an
overall conclusion that melting of Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have likely
contributed to present sea level rise for the period of 1993-2003, ifnot longer
(Lemke et aI., 2007).
Gauging changes in precipitation trends is difficult due to regional
variability as well as data gaps and limitations (Huntington, 2006, as cited in
Trenberth et aI., 2007, p. 265). Precipitation trends were calculated using Global
Historical Climatology Network station data (from the National Climatic Data
Center) in the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report . Between 1900 and 2005, the
5
data show increases in annual precipitation trends for most of North America,
regions of South America including the Amazon Basin, northwestern India
(although a negative trend was reported for 1979-2005), and most of Eurasia.
Negative annual precipitation trends were reported for the American Southwest
and parts of Mexico, Chile and the western coast of the South American
continent, Western Africa as well as Africa's Sahel region (Trenberth et al.,
2007).
Several weather patterns have also been observed to change in the recent
past. A drying trend has been observed for Northern Hemisphere land masses
since the 1950s, brought on by decreases in land precipitation and warming of
Earth's surface (Dai et al., 2004, as cited in Trenberth et al., 2007 , p. 260).
Additionally, there have been increases in the occurrence of heavy precipitation
events over many land areas . This has been observed for parts of the
Mediterranean region, South Africa, parts of Mexico, Japan and the northeastern
United States. Although the occurrence of heavy precipitation events is
increasing in these areas, annual precipitation and in some cases the number of
days with perceivable precipitation have remained static or declined (Alpert et al.,
2002 ; Brunetti et al., 2004; Maheras et al., 2004; Easterling et al., 2000;
Fauchereau et al., 2003; Sun & Groisman, 2004; Groisman et al., 2005; as cited in
Trenberth et al., 2007 , p. 302) The number of colder days and nights appear to be
declining, while the occurrence of hotter days and nights is increasing (Alexander
et al., 2006, as cited in Trenberth et al., 2007, p. 309). Mixed evidence exists for
trends in tropical cyclone activity. Potential Intensity (PI) of tropical storms can
6
be measured by analyzing vertical profiles of temperature and humidity, and
studies have found increases of PI in the last several decades, although
authoritative results are not possible due to data contamination (Emanual, 2003 ;
Gettelman et al., 2002 ; Sherwood et al., 2005; Randel & Wu 2006; as cited in
Trenberth et al., 2007, p. 304). Webster et aI.(2005, 2006; both as cited in
Trenberth et al., 2007, p. 305) found a global increase in the number and total
proportion of hunicanes reaching Category 4 and 5 status since 1970, even as the
total number of tropical cyclones declined in many regions of the world's oceans.
Through a variety of modeled simulations, the IPCC has concluded that
global temperatures will rise by approximately 2-4 0 C by 2100 (Meehl et al.,
2007). Snow and ice mass cover as well as sea ice extent are predicted to shrink.
It is also "very likely" that the occurrence hot extreme temperatures, heat waves
and heavy precipitation events will increase. These predicted trends become all
the more alarming due to the persistence of CO 2 and other greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere. Even with a serious worldwide effort to reduce the levels of emitted
anthropogenic greenhouse gases, emissions (and temperatures) will likely
continue to rise even if dramatic reduction plans are put into motion. It has been
estimated that 50% of a future increase in atmospheric CO 2 concentration will
remain in the atmosphere for thirty years, another 30% will be removed within a
few hundred years, and the final 20% may remain in the atmosphere for several
millennia (Prentice et al., 2001 ; Archer, 2005 ; as cited in Denman et al., 2007 , p.
514). These projections heighten the urgency of reducing greenhouse gas
emissions and preparing to mitigate and adapt to future climate change.
7
Global Effects
The level of consistency between modeled and observed changes has
allowed scientists to state with increasing confidence that anthropogenic warming
in the past several decades has affected many of the planet's physical and
biological systems. Impacts on this level could lead to drastic alterations in
ecosystem structure and function. The effects of future changes in Earth's climate
will vary across the globe and many of the planet's natural systems will be
n
affected, though some more severely than others.
p~
Terrestrial and aquatic systems may undergo several changes if the
In
current rate of warming continues into the future. River flows will be altered ,
though the effect will vary by region. Model results from the IPCC indicate that
tli
under one scenario, runoff in the higher latitudes of North American and the
Eurasian landmasses increased by a range of 10-40%. Regions expected to
experience a 10-30% decline in runoff by the year 2050 include the
s
Mediterranean, parts of Africa, northern Mexico and the American west (Milly et
a
al., 2005, as cited in Kundzewicz et al., 2007, p. 183). As glaciers and snow
cover decline, the water supplies of people living in regions that depend on
mountain meltwater, more than one-sixth of the world's population, will be
threatened (Kundzewicz et al., 2007) . Net carbon uptake by terrestrial ecosystems
may weaken or even reverse, which could exacerbate anthropogenic climate
change (Fischlin et al., 2007). Of the plant and animal species that have been
studied thus far, the IPCC estimates that 20-30% are likely to be at increased risk
8
of extinction if the global average temperature increases by more than 2-30 Cover
preindustrial levels (Fischlin et al., 2007).
Productivity of staple crops is expected to increase in the mid- to high
latitudes with a temperature increase between 1-30 C, so long as water and
nutrients are available. Beyond this threshold, declines in productivity may occur.
In the lower latitudes , productivity of staple crops is projected to decrease for
even mild temperature increases (Easterling et al., 2007). This could increase the
risk of hunger in areas where food supplies are already stressed. For the entire
planet, food production capacit y is expected to increase with local temperature
increases of 1-30 C, but decrease beyond this threshold (Easterling et al., 2007).
Marine systems and environs are expected to experience increased risks in
the future, including coastal erosion (Brown & McLachlan, 2002, as cited in
Nicholls et al., 2007, p. 324). Additionally, warming-induced changes to natural
systems will threaten aquaculture and fisheries (Easterling et al., 2007). Coral
systems are similarly affected, and are projected to face increased threats
associated with higher water temperatures, including bleaching (Hoegh-Guldberg,
1999; 2004; Donner et al., 2005; as cited in Nicholls et al., 2007, p. 321). Future
climate impacts have also been modeled for coastal wetlands, with the results
indicating that losses to ecos ystems such as salt marshes and mangrove forests
will occur as sea level rises (McFadden et al., 2007a; as cited in Nicholls et al.,
2007, p. 328). This is important to note due to the importance ofthese systems as
storm buffers and centers of high biological productivity. A decline in protecti ve
9
vegetation combined with sea level rise is expected to pla ce mi llions more peo ple
at risk of flooding by the 2080s (Nicholls et al., 2007).
Climate change will continue to affect human health, especially in regions
with low adaptive capacity that do not have the resources to provide adequate
medical care (Confalonieri et al., 2007). Future projections suggest that increased
global temperatures may cause disease vectors to spread, although this factor
depends on a given region's adaptation to disease. It is also expected that deaths
and injury attributed to heat exposure will increase (Confalonieri et al., 2007).
Although health effects will vary globally as global temperature continues to
increase, overall threats to human health will persist in the poorer regions of the
world until these areas experience growth and development and the societal
coping mechanisms that will help reduce the incidence of climate change related
illness and mortality (Confalonieri et al., 2007).
G
In summary, projected impacts of climate change include sea level rise,
species extinction, declines in crop production and water availability, and
pr
increases in infectious disease and extreme weather events, among others. These
impacts are already being felt worldwide, to varying extents. Many areas will
experience similar problems, though the extent and impacts will vary depending
on the adaptive capacity and conditions of a given region. It is clear, however,
that the projected impacts of climate change are serious and warrant immediate
an
attention in the policy arena.
In
gla
do
10
Local Effects
Several studies have examined the effects of climate change on the Pacific
Northwest. Not surprisingly, these are similar to those already occurring and
projected to occur all over the world. The warming rate of the Puget Sound
region during the
zo" century was higher than the global average.
Loss of
snowpack and glaciers in the Pacific Northwest has been attributed to increased
temperatures, and this will only continue in the future (Palmer, 2007). A study of
nine North Cascade glaciers revealed a loss of 13-14% of glacial thickness
between 1984 and 2007 , an amount that represents 20-40% of the volume of these
glaciers (North Cascade Glacier Climate Project, 2008). Recent mountain
snowpack losses in the North Cascades are among the largest recorded in the
Western United States (Ecology 2006, p. 20). Additionally, the South Cascade
Glacier lost half of its volume between 1928 and 2003 (Josberger et al., 2006).
Snowpack and freshwater supplies are also expected to be impacted by
precipitation shifts. More precipitation will fall as rain instead of snow in higher
elevations, and spring melt will occur earlier in the year (Miles & Lettenmaier,
2007) . Climate change is projected to increase winter flows and reduce summer
flows in snowmelt influenced river systems (Palmer, 2007) . Since 1948,
declining snow storage has resulted in an 18% decrease of the proportion of
annual river flow to Puget Sound in summer months (Mote et. al., 2005, as cited
in Washington State Department of Ecology [Ecology] , 2006, p. 20). Because
glacial melt helps maintain river and stream flows during drier summer months,
downstream water availability during the drier summer season will decrease
11
(Casola et aI., 2005, as cited in Ecology, 2006, p. 20). Changes in annual river
flow in Washington State will also alter hydropower production. Higher winter
flows are projected to result in increased hydropower production ability in the
winter, but lower summer flows will have the opposite effect. Higher demand for
electricity during summer months compounds the problem (Miles & Lettenmaier,
2007).
Climate change will also affect the frequency of extreme weather events in
the Pacific Northwest. Droughts are projected to become more frequent
throughout the Pacific Northwest, and more flood events are projected for
Western Washington (Palmer, 2007). Heat waves become more frequent with
rising temperatures, with the greatest effects being felt by areas with milder
summer climates, less air conditioning, and higher population density, conditions
that describe many of Washington's major cities (Palmer, 2007).
In addition to higher air temperatures, projected increases in the
temperature of streams, rivers and lakes in the Puget Sound region may pose
threats to coldwater fish species such as trout and salmon, which are important
both economically and as defining cultural symbols of the Pacific Northwest.
Overall, climate change contributes to aquatic conditions that are known to be
detrimental to most species of salmonids found in the Puget Sound region
(Palmer, 2007).
Climate change may also be contributing to an increased occurrence of
wildfires in the forests of the American West. While land use activities such as
fire suppression also increase the risk of wildfires by fostering an accumulation of
biomass in forests, climate-influenced variables such as temperature, spring
snowmelt timing and drought occurrence also contribute to wildfire frequenc y
(Westerling et aI., 2006). The relationship between wildfire activity and climatic
conditions is present in historical and current records and is "particularly strong
since 1977," (Miles & Lettenmaier, 2007). Westerling et aI. found that wildfires
in the Western United States have increased since the mid 1980s, both in
frequency and amount of forested land burned. The greatest increases in wildfire
frequency have occurred in the Northern Rockies, where the history ofland use
has less impact on fire risk, and wildfire frequency is more strongly associated
with climatic variations (2006). As more forested land bums in the future and
wildfire frequency continues to increase, more carbon is added to the atmosphere,
which could trigger a positive feedback that further increases the amount of
forested land burned in wildfires (Running, 2006).
Climate change is also expected to have impacts on Washington's
agricultural production, though the effects will vary by crop type and also by
agricultural methods (i.e. dryland versus irrigated agriculture) (Miles &
Lettenmaier, 2007). The yield and quality of some crops is projected to decline,
although increases in the concentration of atmospheric CO 2 could mitigate some
of this impact if water supplies are available (Miles & Letterunaier, 2007). Water
supplies are expected to decline in some irrigated regions , such as the Yakima
Basin (Scott et aI., 2006 , as cited in Ecology, 2006, p. 50). Additionally,
increasing temperatures will reduce soil moisture content overall. Dryland
agriculture will be affected by longer growing seasons, decreasing summer
13
precipitation and increased competition from weeds. A longer frost-free season
may result in increased crop losses to pests (Ecology, 2006, p. 22). Overall,
I
I
disease will become a larger problem (Miles & Letterunaier, 2007).
The effects of climate change are not limited only to land surfaces,
however. As with many other areas of the planet, sea level rise is expected to
affect Washington 's coastlines in the future. According to the Washington State
Department of Ecology, some of the most densely populated coastlines of Puget
Sound are experiencing the fastest rates of sea level rise and Washington's outer
coast is also vulnerable to storm surges and increased wave heights associated
with rising sea level (Ecology 2006, p. 24).
A 2008 report from the University of Washington's Climate Impacts
Group reviewed projections of the influence of varying factors on sea level rise,
and estimated future sea level rise for Washington's coasts for the years 2050 and
2100. Sea level will not rise by the same amount or at the same rate at all
locations (Mote et al., 2008). The report provided low, medium, and high
estimates, as shown below in Table 1. These and other predictions suggest that
sea level rise will continue to present challenges and threats to human and natural
systems.
The Climate Impacts Group prepared another report in 2007 that described
the threats of sea level rise to Olympia, Tacoma and Seattle. The downtown areas
of Olympia and Seattle and Tacoma's port district are at risk from an overall rise
in sea level, although episodic flooding poses a greater threat than inundation.
Beach erosion is projected to intensify and landslides are expected to become
14
Table 1. Sea level rise predictions for Washington State, 2050 and 2100. Mote et aI., 2008.
Negative values indicate a drop in sea level.
Sea Level
Rise
Estimate
2050
2100
-24 em
Central
and
Southern
Coast
6cm
16cm
15 cm
4em
29 ern
34 em
55 em
88 em
108 em
128 em
NW
Olympic
Peninsula
Central
& South
Coast
Very
Low
Medium
-12 em
3 em
8cm
Ocm
12.5 em
Very
High
35cm
45 em
Puget
Sound
NW
Olympic
Peninsula
Puget
Sound
more frequent. As water levels rise, near shore marine species are expected to be
negatively impacted, and rising water temperatures may also increase incidence of
disease and the spread of exotic species (Miles & Lettenmaier, 2007).
In addition to its effects on natural systems, climate change is expected to
increasingly impact human health as well. Heat wave intensity and frequency
have increased in recent decades and incidence of heat-related deaths also seem to
be rising (Ecology 2006, p. 60). As ambient concentrations of ozone and fine
particulate matter increase with rising temperatures, health risks include lung
cancer, asthma and cardiovascular disease. Increased temperatures may also
contribute to the advanced spread of communicable disease (Miles &
Lettenmaier, 2007). Indeed, the state is already spending money on West Nile
Virus surveillance and the first case was reported in Washington in 2006
(http: //www.doh.wa.gov/publicat/2006_news/06-143.htm).
All of the local , regional and global effects of climate change that are
already taking place and will continue to occur in the future highlight the pressing
15
need to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to mitigat e against the threats of a
continually warming climate. However, even if society could stabilize
greenhouse gas emissions in the next several years, the inertia of the climate
system would still cause changes in Washington's biological and physical
systems. In addition, financial costs will be associated with climate change in
several areas, including but not limited to fire preparedness and response, lost
timber revenues and recreational income, and water conservation expenditures
(Ecology 2006, p. 8).
Uncertainty
The study and interpretation of both natural and anthropogenic climate
change also includes some uncertainties. Anthony Patt describes two types of
uncertainty pertaining to climate change: gaps in knowledge and expert
disagreement (Patt, 2006). Additionally, media portrayal of climate change can
create confusion among the general public, depending on how information on
climate change is delivered. Climate change science contains several unknown
elements that make predictions about future changes and impacts the targets of
skepticism and denial. Differing predictions by experts can be exploited by
climate change opponents, resulting in increased confusion among non-scientists
and delayed attempts at climate change mitigation and adaptation. Assessing the
risks of climate change is more difficult than other risk analysis because the
situation is characterized by high risks and high uncertainty (Schenk & Lensink,
2007).
16
Several components and observations in climate science bring uncertainty
to the issue of climate change. For example, the magnitude of the cooling effect
of clouds on Earth's atmosphere remains uncertain in radiative forcing (Forster et
aI., 2007) and uncertainties are also associated with tracking variables that affect
precipitation changes (Huntington, 2006, as cited in Trenberth et aI., 2007, p.
265) . Antarctic sea ice extent exhibits variability over time but no clear pattern
(Fichefet et aI., 2003; as cited in Lemke et al, 2007 , p. 354), and uncertainties
exist when analyzing tropical cyclone trends (Trenberth et aI., 2007).
Uncertainties in the climate-carbon cycle feedback are not represented in climate
change models, allowing their results to be brought into question (Meehl et aI.,
2007) . Fortunately, each successive generation of climate models is better able to
characterize physical processes than the last, partially due to continual
improvements in computer technology, allowing for more variables to be included
and future climate simulations to be run for longer intervals (Le Treut et aI.,
2007).
It is also difficult to simulate climatic changes on small scales, as natural
climate variability is larger at this level (Randall et al., 2007). Some climate
forcing mechanisms are omitted from models, and uncertainty still exists in the
treatment of these forcings in those models in which they are included (Heger! et
al., 2007). Fortunately, models that operate on a smaller scale are constantly
becoming more sophisticated, again with credit due to advancing computer
technology (Le Treut et al., 2007).
17
Debate among experts also has the potential to add to the uncertainty
surrounding climate change. Mann et al. first published a temperature
reconstruction in 1998 that exhibited a hockey stick shape, with
zo" century
temperatures appearing higher than any of the previous 2000 years. Their data
and
has been widely applied and even appeared in the IPCC 's Third Assessment
con
Report in 2001, though it subsequently came under criticism, perhaps most
tren
notably during a series of interchanges between the authors of the original study
one
and responses written by McIntyre and McKitrick (McIntyre & McKitrick, 2005;
ma
Moberg et al., 2005).
new:
McIntyre and McKitrick allege that an unusual data transformation that
had not been reported by the authors had "mined the data" for hockey stick
sciei
patterns. They concluded that the shape of the resulting temperature graph was
inel
one of "spurious significance," (McIntyre & McKitrick, 2005). The two group s
insf
debated each other in the literature although eventually the National Research
cha
Council stepped in and decided that Mann's predictions of temperature increases
in the 20 th century were credible (Committee on Surface Temperature
Reconstructions for the Last 2,000 Years, Board on Atmospheric Sciences and
con
Climate, Division of Earth and Life Studies, National Research Council, 2006 , p.
4). The inclusion of Mann's study in the Third Assessment Report, even though it
was eventually found to contain plausible conclusions, could detract from the trust
held in the IPCC as a global authority on climate change as a result of
misunderstanding by the general public. This could provide ammunition to those
18
scie
with a corporate stake in keeping the status quo (or to anyone with such an
agenda) to challenge the validity of subsequent documents published by the IPCC.
Global media outlets also have a hand in contributi ng to the uncertainty
and confusion surrounding climate change. A survey of newspaper articles that
contained stories about scientific claims regarding climate change revealed some
trends in newspaper reporting that amplify climate change controversy. Nearly
one-third of the material was framed with ambiguity, uncertainty and controversy
in a manner that the author hypothesizes would cause confusion among
newspaper readers, almost 150 million Americans (Antilla, 2005).
Newspaper articles were found guilty of "bias through balance" where
scientific information defending the validity climate change was countered by the
inclusion of opposing viewpoints from other scientists. The study revealed
instances where misleading titles were used in articles dealing with climate
change and cases where the language pertaining to what is known about climate
change was altered to amplify the level of uncertainty in climate science. There
was also language present in press reports that perpetuates the myth that a
consensus on climate change has not been reached (Antilla, 2005) .
Antilla notes that in some cases, testimony was given by "corporate
scientists" with ties to the fossil fuel industry, and that climate change skeptics
were often used as the primary sources of climate change information. The author
also discusses the effect of corporations that provide financial backing to political
allies in order to undermine the validity of climate science (Antilla, 2005).
19
A large body of evidence indicates that climate change is real and that
human activity is involved. The effect of all of the uncert ainty, controversy and
debate regarding climate change is to threaten future efforts to adapt to and
mitigate the effects that are with increasing certainty projected to impact human
society at a global scale. Direct and timely action is necessary in order to prepare
for future changes in Earth's systems as we ll as those changes that we are already
experiencing.
20
Chapter 2. Past, Present and Future Mitigation
Introduction
In order to deal with the massive threats associated with anthropogenic
climate change, several mitigation and adaptation strategies have been developed
around the world. Mitigation refers to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
while adaptation reduces the vulnerability of human systems to the effects of
climate change. These two approaches may involve changes in technology,
behavior and global policy. The best global strategy may indeed involve a
combination of mitigation and adaptation (Klein et aI., 2007), because no
mitigation efforts will prevent the effects of a changing climate over the coming
decades (Christensen et aI., 2007; Meehl et aI., 2007; both as cited in Klein et aI.,
2007, p. 748). Mitigation efforts in the next several years will however have a
great impact on society's ability to achieve lower levels of GHG emissions
stabilization (Fisher et aI., 2007).
Adaptation and mitigation may be appropriate for differing scenarios, as
reported by Settle et aI. (2007). His research team concluded that adaptation may
be a more suitable policy option when countries do not cooperate in lowering
greenhouse gas emissions and when damage brought on by climate change is
more sporadic in nature. Mitigation, they continue, is a better strategy if in the
future, countries cooperate to reduce emissions and experience continuous
damage from climate change (Settle et aI., 2007). With several different sources
calling for reducing current greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 70% by
21
2050 to avoid the worst climate impacts, it becomes clear that human societies
must seek to implement both adaptation and mitigat ion strategies without delay
(Mathews, 2007).
The pace and scale of global efforts to facilitate necessary technical,
political and behavioral changes will greatly impact the extent to which climate
change will affect Earth in the future. Avoidance of the worst predicted impacts
of climate change-assuming great strides are made in both adaptation and
emissions reductions-will not only save millions of lives and help keep the
integrity of Earth's natural systems intact, it will put human society on the path to
greater global sustainability. While many attest that society currently possesses
all the technological know-how to effectively deal with the problem of climate
change, what is done with this knowledge will determine the future of Earth's
natural and human systems (Mathews, 2007; Pacala & Socolow, 2004).
Mitigation Strategies
Technological Strategies
A suite of technological strategies exists to advance global mitigation and
(
adaptation to future climate change. While future innovations such as the
complete development of a renewable energy based hydrogen economy and
effective capture and sequestration of CO 2 emissions may be effective in reducing
the effects brought on by climate change, there is no need to wait until these
practices become well-established to begin working to reduce global emissions.
s
Many future strategies will rely on methods that reduce CO 2 emissions, as this is
22
the dominant anthropogenic greenhouse gas. Reducing CO 2 emissions will
require changes in a multitude of human systems.
Energy Supply
Perhaps the sector that could have the most pronounced effect on global
GHG emissions reduction is energy supply. Several reduction strategies exist
here, including changing current sources of energy to renewable and less
polluting sources and improving energy efficiency of end-use applications. There
is certainly room for improvement over current energy systems. In 2004, coal
provided 74% of China's electricity production and currently comprises over half
of the United States' energy supply (Cherni & Kentish, 2007 ,
http://www.energy.gov/energysources/coal.htm). Given that coal production
emits a significant amount of GHGs (combustion of one ton of coal generates
nearly three tons of CO 2) and that China and the United States are the world's two
biggest sources of anthropogenic greenhouse gases , great emissions reduction
potential lies in the promotion of renewable energy sources in these countries
(Cherni & Kentish, 2007 ; Hong & Slatick, 1994). Examples of renewable energy
include but are not limited to wind, solar and biomass power. Renewable energy
must be included in future climate change mitigation strategies in order for these
programs to be successful. Indeed, Byrne et al. (2007) attest that "rapid increases
in the use of energy efficiency and renewable energy will be critical to a
successful global response to climate change".
23
Shifts such as these are already evident. Renewables make up 25% of
California's new installed capacity and 33%, 50% and 75% of current energy
supply in Sweden, Norway and Iceland, respectively (Mathews, 2007).
According to the American Wind Energy Association, in the fourth quarter of
2007 wind energy was generating nearly 17,000 megawatts of electricity, with
enough projects under construction to add another 3,600 megawatts to the current
generating capacity (http://www.awea.org/projectsl).In 2006, solar power was
providing 120 MW-dc of electricity (http://www.seia.orglYear_in_Solar_
2006.pdf), or 92 MW after the electricity is converted to AC (http.z/rredc.nrel.
gov/solar/codes_algs/PVWATIS/system.html). Biofuels are more controversial
than wind, solar and other forms of renewable energy. Their impact on
greenhouse gas emissions depends largely on production methods. When
undisturbed land is converted in order to grow biofuels, or to grow crops
Ii
displaced from other areas by biofuel production, CO 2 is released. It may take
decades for that land to generate enough biofuels to balance out these CO 2
emissions. Producing biofuels by planting native plants on degraded or
s
abandoned agricultural land results in relatively lower levels of CO 2 emissions
(Fargione et al., 2008).
r
Given current energy trends, it becomes quite obvious that new sources of
energy and increasing energy efficiency of current operations will become crucial
to solving the climate problem, as evidenced by a study of current energy use in
Japan's Shiga Prefecture. It showed that increases in energy intensity
(
improvement and decreases in carbon intensity must be 200-300% greater than
24
the previous 40 year period in order to achiev e a 60-80% reduction in C02
emissions (Shimada et al., 2007). Promoting the use of renewable energy and
energy efficiency will make great strides in reducing carbon intensity and overall
GHG emissions.
Transportation
Another area that holds great greenhouse gas mitigation potential is the
transportation sector. It is also important to note that reducing automobile
emissions has benefits beyond climate change mitigation; burning less fossil fuels
and driving less overall reduces air pollution and leads to improvements in
general health. Potential improvements in the transportation sector include using
more fuel-efficient vehicles (including standard hybrid-electric and plug-in
hybrid-electric vehicles) , alternative sources of fuel and increasing the prevalence
of both public transportation and non-motorized transportation, such as walking
or biking. Increasing fuel efficiency standards for vehicles or switching to
smaller, lighter vehicles can reduce the output of GHGs from the transportation
sector, though consumer vehicle preferences playa role in the potential of this
mitigation strategy; smaller, fuel efficient cars will do little to mitigate greenhouse
gas emissions if they do not displace larger vehicles (http ://www.wbcsd.org/plug
ins/DocSearch/details.asp?type=DocDet&ObjectId=6094).
In 2007 , President Bush signed the Energy Independence and Security Act
of 2007, which set a national fuel efficiency standard of 35 miles per gallon for
automobiles by the year 2020 (http ://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007 /
25
12/20071219-1.html). Previously, Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE)
standards had been set at 27.5 miles per gallon for passenger vehicles since 1990,
with large passenger vehicles (greater than 8,500 lbs gross weight) being exempt
from meeting fuel economy standards (http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/CARS/rules/
CAFE/overview.htm). Lobbying government agencies and automakers to take
serious strides in making more fuel efficient vehicles and more stringent
regulations of fuel economy can continue to help realize greater CO 2 emissions
reductions from this sector.
Alternative fuels are another option in the technological mitigation toolkit,
o
although concerns exist regarding production methods and displacement of
e
agricultural land dedicated to growing food crops. Biofuels can be produced via
re
methods that minimize the release of CO 2 from cropland (Fargione et al., 2008).
di
Additionally, biofuels made from crop residues (i.e. com stalks) do not directly
fl .
interfere with food production. Grasses are a potential source ofbiofuels, and can
be grown on land unsuited for agriculture and require less energy to produce,
c
resulting in the emission of less greenhouse gases during production (lEA, 2006a,
ul
as cited in Kahn Ribiero et al., 2007, p. 342).
Hydrogen has the potential to become a more widely used energy source
and a means of climate change mitigation in the next several decades as long as it
m
is produced cleanly and has a viable infrastructure system for distribution. In the
rn
United States, the current administration's policy on this issue relies largely on
1I
fossil fuels to produce hydrogen. More funding for hydrogen development and a
cc
shift in the energy used to produce hydrogen could help this technology become a
n
26
better mitigation strategy (Byrne et al., 2007). Hydro gen fuel cell technology has
made advances in recent years, in terms of durability, increased operation dis tance
and a reduction in costs (Murakami & Uchibori, 2006, as cited in Kahn Ribiero et
al., 2007, p. 345).
The aviation sector can also reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the future
through the development of more fuel-efficient airplanes as well as altering the
ways air traffic is managed. Currently, there are no fuel efficiency standards
imposed on the aviation sector (Kahn Ribiero et al., 2007). Alterations to the
overall designs and materials used in modem aircraft could result in greater fuel
efficiency for the aviation sector (Kahn Ribiero et al., 2007). In addition,
reducing the vertical cushion that is currently mandated to maintain a safe
distance between aircraft from 2,000 to 1,000 feet could result in more planes
flying at optimum altitudes and reduced fuel usage (Kahn Ribiero et al., 2007).
In addition to technology that can reduce transport sector emissions,
changing transportation patterns may have some benefits, as well. Increasing the
use of mass transportation systems, including bus and rail lines, mass marine
transport and carpooling removes vehicles from the road and generally reduces
overall greenhouse gas emissions (Kahn Ribiero et al., 2007). Creating and
making alterations to communities to make them more conducive to non
motorized transport will help meet this goal, as well. Non-motorized activities are
influenced by the character of surrounding development. Planning for "walkable"
communities and installing bike lanes on roadways provides an opportunity to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with personal vehicle usage. The
27
density and land use patterns of communities determine what transpo rtation
systems are available; the residents of denser communities are not as reliant on
personal vehicles. Coupling development with transport systems is paramount to
Et:
increasing the use of both mass and non-motorized transit (Kahn Ribiero et al.,
UJ
2007). Along with reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions, reducing pollution
be
associated with traffic has other benefits including improved air quality,
ef
heightened energy security and reduced traffic congestion (Kahn Ribiero et al.,
L
2007).
.0
Buildings
A major area where greenhouse gas mitigation is possible is in new and
existing buildings. Measures here include utilizing new technology to create
lr
more energy-efficient buildings and retrofitting existing buildings to use less
pi
energy. The Clinton Climate Initiative recognizes that cities emit 75% of
~l
greenhouse gases while only comprising 2% of total land area, and have targeted
el
building efficiency upgrades as a means of mitigating future climate change
p;
(http://www.clintonfoundation.orglcf-pgm-cci-home.htm). Globall y, barriers to
I!
the implementation of building efficiency programs include lack of financing and
II
availability of energy efficient technology (Reddy, 1991; Brown et al., 1991; both
as cited in Levine et al., 2007, p. 421), but the IPCC estimates that by 2030, 30%
or more of projected greenhouse gas emissions could be avoided in a cost
s
effective marmer by working toward greater building efficiency (Levine et al.,
2007) .
28
One method of realizing greenhouse gas reductio ns is through the
construction of buildings that meet or exceed Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) standards. A rating system designed by the
United States Green Building Council (USOBC), the program rates building
based on five components: "sustainable site development, water savings , energy
efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality." Currently,
LEED-certified buildings are being constructed worldwide (http://www.usgbc
.orglDisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=222) .
Industry
Similar solutions are available in the industrial sector. For energy
intensive industry, upgrading technology to make operations as efficient as
possible, and making these types of installations standard for all new construction
projects will help to reduce ORO emissions associated with this sector (Bernstein
et aI., 2007) . The use of renewable energy and instituting materials recycling
programs may also reduce ORO emissions associated with industrial production.
Like many other sectors, there are barriers to implementing these strategies in the
industrial sector. Demand for greenhouse gas mitigation is not present in all parts
of the world, and financial limitations discourage some companies from adopting
new technology, despite the likelihood of payoffs in the long run (Canepa &
Stoneman, 2004, as cited in Bernstein et aI., 2007, p. 476).
29
Agriculture and Forestry
Another significant area where technological solutions can help reduce
greenhouse gas emissions is the agricultural sector, including forestry. Different
agricultural systems will have varied greenhouse gas mitigation potential (Smith
et al., 2007). Improving grazing and crop land management by altering current
eli
practices can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural lands . Restoring
degraded agriculture and livestock lands will have similar benefits. Reducing the
amount of fossil fuels associated with crop harvest and the provision of feed
stocks is another strategy of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the
agriculture sector (Smith et al., 2007).
cl
Tropical forests are currently being destroyed at a rate of 1-2% annually.
c(
Burning of forest products and removing a potential carbon sink incre ase
TIl
atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (Mathews, 2007). Substantial
el
greenhouse gas mitigation potential lies in reducing global rates of deforestation.
at
Methods include the cessation of old-growth harvesting in tropical forests,
IS
reforesting logged area s in temperate and tropical forest systems and the
establishment of tree plantations on other nonforested lands (Pacala & Socolow,
2004). Providing financial incentives for countries with forest resources could
Po
reduce deforestation worldwide (Mathews, 2007).
11
It is clear that global societies have many options when constructing
climate change mitigation programs. A great deal of reduction potential lies in
n
technologies and practices that currently exist, although there are many barriers to
a
the implementation of mitigation strategies. These include, but are not limited to,
30
financial constraints and limits to the dissemination of information and
technology. Social pressure and political will are also pieces of the mitigation
puzzle that must be present ifmeaningful action against climate change is to
occur on a spatial and temporal scale that will result in a more favorable future
climate.
Societal Changes
Lifestyle Changes
Along with technologies that can help reduce global ORO emissions,
changes in the ways people live their lives can make strides toward successfully
combating climate change. The American public is currently in favor of
mitigating climate change; in 2001 over 90% expressed support for renewable
energy, 59% supported higher gasoline taxes if it would lessen climate change
and 83% believed the federal government should show more leadership on the
issue of climate change (Byrne et aI., 2007).
Changes in lifestyle and consumption patterns that increase resource
conservation can aid in the development of a low-carbon economy. Addressing
per capita resource consumption may in fact be critical to avoiding the most
intense deleterious effects of future climate change. In a study of future emissions
reduction efforts of Japan's Shiga Prefecture, Shimada et aI. note that technical
measures alone will not allow full reduction potential to be met; addressing the
area's socio-economic structure is almost as important (2007).
31
In order to help citizens worldwide adopt less GHG- intensive lifestyles,
environmental education will have to playa large role in future GHG reduction
strategies. Although the vast majority of Americans support more action in
response to climate change, a case study conducted at Penn State University in
a
2001 reveals that graduates of the university know little regarding their
"ecological identities"; forty percent of graduating seniors could not estimate
global population to the nearest billion, and over 70% could not identify main
geological features of the region surrounding the university they had attended
(Uhl & Anderson, 2001).
The authors also hypothesized that the immense amount of materials
consumed on college campuses may suggest to students that the Earth can always
supply society with its needs, and the amount of waste produced by universities
suggests that there is no need for recycling. The authors believe that a lack of so
called "ecological literacy" is a problem at most universities, underscoring the
need for increased environmental education in order to produce more educated
citizens that are concerned about overall planetary sustainability (Uhl &
Anderson, 2001). As such, increased environmental awareness should be
included in future campaigns and initiatives that address climate change.
As environmental awareness increases, global citizens may begin to adopt
more sustainable and carbon-neutral lifestyles. Education can help grow markets
for energy efficiency and its use in product and building design. Altered thinking
patterns may change the relationship that humans have with the automobile; a
more informed citizenry may opt for more efficient cars and/or drive less overall.
32
These are just a few examples of the benefits of creat ing an environmentally
aware society. The ultimate goal is a healthier relationship between people and
the Earth that ensures that abundant resources and a clean environment will be
available for use by future generations.
Political Action
International Efforts
Much work has been done over the past several decades to lessen the
effects of global climate change on human societies. Global conferences have
been held , laws and agreements have been drafted, and scores ofbooks and
documentaries have addressed virtually every known aspect of climate change.
There are many schools of thought as to which policies provide the best
opportunities to deal with climate change in a timely and effective manner.
Carbon taxation, mandatory emissions controls and voluntary cap and trade
programs are only some examples of the myriad political strategies that have been
introduced in the name of reducing the threats of future climate change.
Over the years several global conferences have been held to discuss the
issues surrounding climate change, and there are currently two global frameworks
that address climate change mitigation. The first is known as the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC. This was a product of
the 1992 Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit Convention (Mathews, 2007). The
convention called for governments to regularly compile and publish information
about their greenhouse gas emissions and reduction efforts, work toward reducing
33
emissions within their borders and cooperate with other countries with respect to
climate change adaptation efforts. The convention was ratified by 192 countries
and went into effect in 1994 (http://unfccc.int/essential_background/convention!
items/2627.php).
The UNFCCC, as a starting point, did not provide legally binding statutes
or emissions reduction targets, although it did include a provision for further
''updates'' that could set mandatory GHG reduction goals. The Kyoto Protocol, a
e
more well-known global climate change initiative, was spawned from the
cl
UNFCCC in 1997, where it was developed during the Kyoto Conference
di
(Mathews , 2007). Though emissions reduction targets varied from country to
co
country, the Protocol called for an overall 5% reduction in global GHG emissions
below 1990 levels by 2012, and gave flexibility in the ways countries could
reduce their GHG emissions and allowed for an international "cap and trade"
de
system (http://unfccc.intikyotoyrotocol/items/2830.php; Mathews, 2007).
of
Countries could increase carbon sinks, such as forests, or finance foreign projects
tH
that reduce GHG emissions (http://unfccc.int/kyotoyrotocol/items/2830 .php).
fii
Several criticisms have been directed at the Kyoto Protocol , among them the
2~
exclusion of developing nations from regulation, and questions regarding how
significant of a difference the reduction targets could make in reducing threats
associated with climate change (Mathews, 2007). Although the Protocol may not
have been as stringent as its critics would have liked, it represented a real step
he
forward in working to reduce global GHG emissions.
se
fe
34
The Protocol was opened for signature in 2002 and went into effect in
2005 , though the United States refused to sign due to the exclusion of developing
countries from the Protocol's authority. Although nearly all industrialized
countries signed the Protocol, many countries did not, including the United States
and China. In 2000, these two countries were responsible for more than one-third
of global GHG emissions (Baumert et aI., 2005). Ultimately, time will tell the
extent to which the Kyoto Protocol is able to have a pronounced impact on global
climate change, though the exercise of bringing many nations to the table to
discuss climate change mitigation may have a positive impact on similar future
conventions.
In 2007, representatives from 180 countries gathered in Bali for a United
Nations Climate Change Conference. The conference sought to continue
developing climate solutions through global partnership, resulting in the adoption
of "the Bali Roadmap, which consists of a number of forward-looking decisions
that represent the various tracks that are essential to reaching a secure climate
future ." The Roadmap also included a plan to develop a negotiation process by
2009 (http://unfccc.int/meetings/cop_13/items/4049.php).
Climate Action in the United States
Although the United States failed to ratify the Kyoto Protocol , much work
has been done at the national , regional , state and local levels. The EPA lists
several voluntary federal strategies that have created partnerships between the
federal government and the private sector in the name of combating climate
35
change. Some of these include the Climate VISION Partnership, which pairs
federal agencies such as the Enviromnental Protection Agency (EPA) and
Departments of Energy, Agriculture, Transportation with the oil and gas
production, transportation, refining and other industries to work together to reduce
emissions. Under the Green Power Partnership, EPA encourages organizations to
purchase power derived from cleaner sources with fewer emissions
(http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/policy/neartermghgreduction.html).
Although these and similar initiatives may help to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, the threats associated with climate change deserve more stringent and
direct action.
Perhaps the largest national initiative the United States is pursuing is a
strategy to reduce greenhouse gas intensity by 18% by 2012. As defined by EPA ,
greenhouse gas intensity is "the ratio of greenhouse gas emissions to economic
output." This scheme relies on organizations voluntarily providing the
govermnent with information on GHG reduction initiatives and may not lower
overall emissions if the national economy grows as predicted (Byrne et aI., 2007) .
Other national policies that could have been signed into law did not
survive the legislative review process. The Climate Stewardship Act of2003,
proposed by senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman, called for a limit on
American GHG emissions and the creation of a national trading system. The Act
did not pass the Senate although the process showed bipartisan interest in
addressing the issue of climate change. In the period of 2005-2006, four bills that
would regulate many pollutants and create a CO 2 cap were introduced but did not
36
pass, although the Senate issued a resolution requesting mandatory control of
emissions of those GHGs that would not affect the economy. In 2002, 2003 and
2005 the Senate passed bills that mandated that the United States acquire 10% of
its energy from renewable sources by 2020, although no such policies were
passed by the House of Representatives and were absent from the President's
Energy Policy Act of2005 (Byrne et al., 2007) .
Although the continuing lack of strong federal leadership in climate
change mitigation continues to be a source of frustration to those interested in
reducing climate change's projected impacts, regional, state and local initiatives
that mirror global efforts are springing up in many parts of the United States. In
the Northeast, the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian
Premiers created a Climate Change Action Plan in 2001. The plan sets a goal of
reducing GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2010 , with further cuts to occur by
2020 (Byrne et al., 2007).
In 2003, the state of New York began a campaign to bring the
Northeastern states together to work on reducing GHG emissions. Seven states
are currently participating in what became known as the Regional Greenhouse
Gas Initiative, and plans are underway to create a multi-state emissions cap and
trade program aimed at reducing CO 2 emissions from the region's power plants
(http://www.rggi.orglabout.htm).
In 2007, five Western states-including Washington-established the
Western Climate Initiative. The regional GHG reduction goal, announced in
August of that year, is 15% below 2005 levels by 2020, with the
6
37
acknowledgement that successful avoidance of climate change' s worst projected
impacts may take a worldwide GHG reduction effort of 50-85% below current
levels by 2050. To this end , several states in the initiati ve have established
ambitious goals for reducing emissions. By 2050, California has set a goal of an
80% reduction below 1990 levels, Oregon is aiming for a more than 75%
reduction below 1990 levels and New Mexico hopes to achie ve a 75% reduction
below 2000 levels. Washington's goal is a 50% reduction below 1990 levels by
2050 (http://www.westernclimateinitiative.orgiewebeditpro/items/OIO4F
13006.pdf).
By collaborating in regional partnerships and also through independent
action , many states have been expressing leadership in GHG emis sions reduction.
Twenty-four states and Washington, DC have set varying targets for including
renewable energy in their energy portfolios. Washington State has set a goal of
obtaining 15% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. A total of twenty
eight states and Puerto Rico have identified GHG emissions reduction goals
(BYrne et al., 2007). Among these are some of the more populous states in the
nation, including California, New York and Illinois.
ca
The state of Washington has passed several pieces of legislation related to
climate change mitigation. In 2007, Governor Christine Gregoire released an
do
r
executive order entitled Washington Climate Change Challenge, a proclamation
re'
of the state's commitment to reducing its contribution to global climate change.
gr
Washington set a goal of reducing its GHG emissions 50% below 1990 levels by
als
2050. Some listed methods of achieving this goal include reducing expenditures
Ju
38
,8
on fuel through the promotion of energy efficiency and constructin g more
environmentally friendly buildings. The challenge also outlined a plan to pursue
all policies and strategies that would ensure that the emissions reduction goals
were achieved (http ://www.governor.wa.gov/execorders/eo_07-02.pdf).
To these ends, several pieces of legislation have been proposed or passed
in Washington State . Engrossed Substitute Bill 6308, passed in February of2008,
directs the Department of Ecology to report on recommendations for the creatio n
of a program to prepare for the effects of continued climate change. The passage
of Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6001 in May 2007 created a legally binding
process for achieving the state's 2050 GHG emissions reduction goal. Engrossed
Second Substitute House Bill 1303 encouraged the use of cleaner energy in the
public sector. Substitute House Bill 1929 recognized that greenhouse gas offsets
and other mitigation projects provide a direct benefit to utility ratepayers, and
authorizes utilities to pursue these projects. House Bill 2815, passed in 2008,
called for statewide goals to reduce per capita vehicle miles travelled by 2050 in
line with Governor Gregoire's Washington Climate Change Challenge. It also
calls for a market-based system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, rules to
document greenhouse gas emissions, and the creation of more "green collar" jobs
related to clean energy. The passage of Substitute House Bill 3141 in 2004
required new fossil fuel power plants with a generating capacity of25 MW or
greater to mitigate 20% of the CO2 they emit over a thirty year period. The bill
also applied to existing plants that increase CO 2 emissions by 15% or more after
July 1, 2004. Under Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1397, passed in 2005, the
39
State of Washington formally adopted most of Califomi a' s more stringent veh icle
emissions standards. Engrossed Senate Substitute Bill 6508, passed in 2006,
called for a range of fuel options for Washington consumers, ranging from zero to
100% renewable content.
After reviewing mitigation efforts coming from regional and state
organizations, it becomes apparent that American action on climate change has
conser
gotten underway with little input from the federal government. At the lower end
provid
of the governmental spectrum, climate change mitigation has also been addressed
focus I
at the local-city and town-level. On February 16, 2005-the day that the
buildi
Kyoto Protocol took effect for the 141 signatory countries-Mayor Greg Nickels
CAP~
of Seattle issued a challenge to other American mayors to combat climate change
by engaging their communities in reducing GHG emissions (http://www.seattle
clim a
.gov/m ayor/climate/).
prom
In June of 2005, the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement (MCP A)
advai
was passed by the US Conference of Mayors. It called for a 7% reduction of
Envii
United States GHG emissions below 1990 levels by 2012 , the level that the Kyoto
susta
Protocol had recommended for the United States. TIle document also urged the
infon
federal government to commit to reducing United States GHG emissions and
(http
listed ways that cities could work to achieve the emissions reduction goals laid
agen
out by the Agreement (http://www.seattle.gov/mayorlclimate/). As of October
and 1
2008, 884 mayors representing nearly 81,000,000 citizens had signed the
proVo
Agreement (http ://usmayors.orgiclimateprotectioniClimateChange.asp).
in th
offsl
40
To date, Seattle has announced great progress with working toward its
greenhouse gas reduction goals. According to the 2007-2008 Seattle Clim ate
Action Plan Progress Report, the city's 2005 greenhouse gas emissions were 8%
lower than emissions from 1990. The city reports reductions in per capita
electricity, water, and natural gas consumption. Reductions are credited in part to
conservation efforts and investments in renewable energy, along with offsets
provided by the city's utilities provider, Seattle City Light. Future plans include a
focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation and the
buildings sectors, among other efforts (http://www.seattle.gov/climate/docs/Sea
CAP%20Progress%20Report2007.pdf).
America's local jurisdictions have not been alone in their fight against
climate change. Various organizations have been working with communities to
promote strategies and measures that can help reduce GHG emissions and
advance overall sustainability. The International Council for Local
Envirorunental Initiatives (lCLEI) works with cities that have committed to
sustainable development. The organization provides technical training and
information services in order to advance sustainability at the local level
(http://www.iclei.org/index.php?id=global-about-iclei). In Washington, state
agencies and utility companies such as Puget Sound Energy (PSE) offer rebates
and grants to install new, more efficient technology. Puget Sound Energy also
provides grants that assist cities and firms in hiring staff to monitor energy usage
in their operations. Under the Energy Efficiency Building Retrofit Program, an
offshoot of former President Clinton's Clinton Climate Initiative, cities have
40
41
access to funding for use in retrofitting existing buildings to achieve ener gy
savings, typically in the neighborhood of20-50% (http: //www.c1intonfoundation
.orglll 0707 -nr-cf-cci-pr-wj c-announces-major-partnerships-to-retrofi t-pub lie
and- private- bui ldings-natio nwide.htm).
In the United States, federal legislation that mirrors and even exceeds
efforts that have been made at the regional, state and local levels is necessary to
aid in successful climate change mitigation. Policy creation is largely determined
by governrnental decision-making, which in tum stems from how the decision
m'
makers view their surroundings. Cost-benefit analysis and risk management are
pp
also considerations in the political process (Tol & Yo he, 2007). It is possible that
(P
in the future, progress made by local and state governrnent may persuade the
federal governrnent to take comprehensive action in working to mitigate climate
change. The American public is in favor of emissions-reducing strategies such as
alternative power sources, and over 80% wish to see more federal leadership
in
when it comes to climate change mitigation (Byrne et al., 2007). Because the
re
United States is the greatest contributor to climate change, it is imperative that its
GHG emissions are reduced along with the rest of the world's. Whether the
me
federal governrnent steps in to lead the United States in successfully reducing
in
GHG emissions will help determine what degree of alteration Earth's climate will
(F
undergo in the future.
B'
The stringency of the emissions reduction targets needed to avoid the
worst impacts of future climate change underscores a need for greater global
na
cooperation and serious mitigation and adaptation efforts at all levels-national,
42
regional and local. A combination of technology, po litical will and changes in
overall human behavior will be necessary to successfully mitigate the worst
predicted effects of global climate change. As previously mentioned, it has been
estimated that cuts in global GHG emissions as high as approximately 70% below
current levels may be necessary by 2050 in order to avoid the worst of the
predicted effects of global climate change. Business-as-usual projections estimate
doubled annual carbon emissions of 14 billion tons per year by 2054 if no
mitigation action is taken. In order to stabilize atmospheric CO 2 levels at 500
ppm, we as a global society must limit annual carbon emissions to 7 billion tons
(Pacala & Socolow, 2004). The news is not all bleak, however; it is estimated
that "bottom-up" initiatives could reduce American C02 emissions by 65% below
baseline projections (Byrne et al., 2007).
The tides may be turning in favor of federal action against climate change;
in a recent ruling, the Supreme Court granted EPA the authority to monitor and
regulate GHG emissions under the US Clean Air Act (Lifsher & Wilson, 2007).
The Senate and House of Representatives are crafting legislation that may ban
incandescent light bulbs by 2014 in favor of more energy efficient technology,
including compact fluorescent (CFL) and light-emitting diode (LED) products
(Fialka & Kranhold, 2007). In July of2007, Senators Arlen Specter and Jeff
Bingaman introduced the Low Carbon Economy Act of2007, which features a
cap and trade emissions reduction plan as well as pro visions to assist developing
nations in addressing climate change (http://specter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?
43
FuseAction=NewsRoom.NewsReleases&ContentRecord id=05B1466B-1 670
48AE-A458-66837A7DB8C6).
Along with the Low Carbon Economy Act of 2007, several cap and trade
programs were brought before the 110 th Congress as ofJanuary 2008. These
include, among others, the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of2008 and
the Sanders-Boxer Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act. The bills all define
caps on greenhouse gas emissions for three timeframes; 2010-2019, 2020-2029
and 2030-2050, and these caps vary in stringency. For example, the Lieberman
Warner Climate Security Act of 2007 calls for a cap on emissions equivalent to
71% below 2005 levels by the 2030-2050 period, while the Bingaman-Specter
Low Carbon Economy Act calls for a cap at 1990 emissions levels by 2030 with
provisions for a presidentially declared emissions cap equal to or greater than
60% below 1990 levels by 2050, hinging on international reduction efforts
(http://pewclimate.orgidocUploads/Cap&TradeChart.pdf). The future success of
these or similar bills that address a nationwide cap and trade initiative will
determine how effectively the United States is able to reduce its greenhouse gas
emissions.
Climate Change Action in Tumwater, Washington
Along with hundreds of other cities in the United States, Tumwater,
Washington has begun to take responsibility for its contribution to climate
change, even as the federal government remains largely unresponsive. In 2006,
Mayor Ralph Osgood signed the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement and
44
in 2007, the city became a member of ICLEI, setting forth on a path that will
reduce future emissions and enhance the overall sustainability of the commu nity.
Through research into current and past GHG emissions as well as best practices
for managing future emissions, the city is taking part in a global effort to
overcome what many consider to be the greatest environmental challenge in
human history.
The central research question of this thesis is whether the City of
Tumwater's municipal operations are able to meet the greenhouse gas reduction
goals outlined by the United States Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, which
would require a 7% reduction below 1990 levels by 2012.
45
Chapter 3. Quantification and Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in
Tumwater, Washington
City Overview
The city of Tumwater, Washington is located at the southern end ofPuget
m
Sound, in Thurston County, adjacent to the state capital of Olympia. Incorporated
th
in 1869 , the city consisted of approximately 16,000 residents as of February,
eli
2008, and is the oldest permanent American community on Puget Sound
be
(http://www.ci.tumwater.wa.us/History.htm). The city has an area of roughly
to
eleven square miles (http://www.ci.tumwater.wa.us/City%20Departments/General
co
%20Information.pdf).
Creation ofa Climate Protection Program
c~
The Climate Protection Program at the City of Tumwater began when City
Councilmember Karen Valenzuela initiated conversation about the US Mayors
Climate Protection Agreement at a city council meeting in September 2006.
C
Councilmember Valenzuela believed that "in the absence of national policies, it is
c(
up to cities and towns to force the hand of the national governm ent and become
part of the solution." Her goal was to make climate change mitigation a value of
I<
the community (K aren Valenzuela, personal communication).
R
During the September Council meeting, she suggested that the General
11
Government Committee, which oversees environmental and other issues, consider
tc
the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. In October of2006, the General
Government Committee met to discuss whether to recommend that Tumwater
c
46
sign the Agreement. Members of the community who were present at the mee ting
expressed support, and the issue was taken to the next City Council meeting on
November 6. A public hearing to discuss signing the Agreement and becoming a
member of ICLEI was set for December 5. During the hearing , many members of
the community offered comments in support of Tumwater taking action against
climate change. A resolution was passed for the city to sign the Agreement and
become a member of ICLEI. Due to concerns as to the scope of the city's power
to reduce emissions, only those emissions associated with city operations were
considered part of the reduction efforts , though it was deemed possible for the
General Government Committee to discuss expanding emissions reduction efforts
to the entire community of Tumwater (Karen Valenzuela, personal
communication).
Mayor Ralph Osgood signed the US Mayors Climate Protection
Agreement in 2006, and in the early months of2007, the city kicked off its
Climate Protection Program. I was hired as an intern to carry out the process of
conducting greenhouse gas audits and finding ways for the city to reduce its
municipal greenhouse gas emissions, and Tumwater also became a member of
ICLEI. Representatives from ICLEI's Seattle Office, especially Amy Shatzkin,
Regional Program Officer for the Pacific Northwest, collaborated with the City of
Tumwater on producing greenhouse gas emissions audits and providing materials
to help the city identify and quantify emissions reduction efforts .
In order to help cities quantify their greenhouse gas emissions, ICLEI
created a Milestone Guide, which provides step-by-step instructions to the
47
emissions audit process and drafting of comprehensive climate action pla ns.
ICLEI's Milestone Guide outlines the five milestones of the Cities for Cli mate
Protection Campaign that local governments agree to comp lete wi thin three years
of signing on with the organization. They include:
1. Conducting a baseline emissions inventory and forecast of
emissions growth
2. Setting an emissions reduction target
3. Developing an action plan to meet the target
4. Implementing actions in the plan
5. Monitoring and verifying emissions reduction progress
In'
gr
ICLEI provides information for both government and community analyses,
en
though it is not required that signatories complete both inventories
ba
simultaneously. As previously mentioned, city officials decided to focus on the
SlJ
municipal sector first in order to manage the size of the project and to be able to
re
provide a concrete example for the greater community to follow.
In order to quantify greenhouse gas emissions, Clean Air and Climate
Protection (CACP) software was provided to Tumwater after the city became an
th
CI
ICLEI signatory. The software was developed by ICLEI in conjunction with
Torrie Smith Associates, The State and Territorial Air Pollution Program
or
Administrators and the Association of Local Air Pollution Control Officials
(STAPPAIALAPCO), which is now known as The National Association of Clean
Air Agencies (NACAA). Torrie Smith Associates is an environmental consulting
w
b,
be
firm that works to find sustainable solutions to energy problems. Based in
S{
Ottawa, Canada, the firm was founded in 1979 (http://www.torriesmith.coml).
The NACAA represents over fifty states and tenitories and covers more than 160
large metropolitan areas in the United States. The association was formed more
48
m
than thirty years ago in an effort to increase the effectiveness of air pollution
reduction efforts . Some stated goals of the organization are to encourage
information exchange among agencies, increase communication and cooperation
between regulatory agencies at the local, state and federal levels, and to advance
good management of American air resources (http://4cleanair.orglabout.asp).
The first step in the ICLEI process, conducting emissions inventories,
involved identifying all the activities in Tumwater's municipal sector that release
greenhouse gases. This enabled the city to accurately quantify its greenhouse gas
emissions and discover ways to make reductions. ICLEI recommends using a
baseline year at least fifteen to twenty years in the past for the inventory, and
similarly, the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement's efforts are based on
reducing GHG emissions to below 1990 levels. To this end, 1990 was originally
chosen as the baseline year for Tumwater's emissions audit. After meeting with
the city's finance and public works departments and initiating dialogue with the
city's energy provider, Puget Sound Energy, it was determined that 1990 was not
a viable baseline year due to a lack of consistent data. City energy records are
only kept for a period of six years and Puget Sound Energy's records department
was unable to locate account information for the City of Tumwater that dated
back to 1990. Audits were completed for the years 2000, which served as a
baseline year, and 2006, which helped demonstrate growth in emissions for each
sector.
The regional manager of ICLEI deemed it appropriate for the city to use a
more current baseline year, as other signatory cities have made similar
49
concessions. In this case, the importance of utilizing complete data sets
outweighed concerns about selecting a baseline year only six years previous to
Tumwater's Climate Protection Program's inception (Amy Shatzkin, personal
communication). The year 2000 was selected as a baseline year.
Forms for collecting greenhouse gas emissions source data were provided
by ICLEI and were used as a guideline during the data collection process. ICLEI
identifies the following sectors as possible contributors to municipal GHG
emissions: city buildings, streetlights, water and sewage operations, vehicle pool ,
employee commute, and waste. The CACP software is designed to convert
entered parameters, such as gallons of gasoline or tons of waste, into greenhouse
gas emissions. The software has coefficient factors that are tailored to specific
regions of the country, which helps yield more accurate data. More information
on the CACP software is included in Appendix I.
2000 and 2006 Energy Audits
In order to identify sources of Tumwater's greenhouse gas emissions and
obtain records and information that would be used for GHG emissions analysis,
meetings were held with representatives from the public works, facilities, finance
and human resources departments in order to determine sources of energy
consumption throughout the City of Tumwater. In addition, utility bills and other
records were collected and analyzed for the years 2000 and 2006. Once all
energy records were compiled, emissions audits were created using the CACP
software.
50
2006 Audits
Building Sector
One of the very first activities completed during the emissions audit
process was to compile a list of city-owned facilities. This was done through both
a tour of Tumwater's municipal sector and by reviewing Tumwater's 2006 utility
bills from Puget Sound Energy. There are currently eleven buildings owned and
operated by the city of Tumwater, including City Hall, two Public Works field
buildings, a branch of the Timberland Regional Library, two fire stations, a
Facilities building, Old Town Center, Tumwater Valley Golf Course restaurant
and pro-shop (which includes energy usage from the golf course), and the
Henderson and Crosby Houses, two historic buildings. Additionally there are
some small structures associated with Tumwater's eight parks and playgrounds
that include restrooms and picnic pavilions.
Electricity and natural gas data were collected for all buildings in
Tumwater's municipal sector by tallying kilowatt-hours of electricity and therms
of natural gas from Puget Sound Energy utility bills. Overall , the City of
Tumwater utilized over 5.8 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and
approximately 30,000 therms of natural gas in the year 2006. Approximately
28% of the electricity and 100% of the natural gas were consumed by the building
sector. In addition , it was noted that the two city-owned historical houses, the
Crosby and Henderson Houses , used approximately 800 gallons of diesel heating
51
fuel in 2006. Table 2 shows each building and the amount of energy it utilized in
2006.
Table 2. 2006 energy usage by the City of Tum water's mun icipal building s. Source: Puget
Sound Energy utility bills and internal documents.
Facility Name
Old Town Center
Electricity Use Natural Gas Use Fuel Oil Use
(kWh)
(therms)
(gallons)
107,000
6,629
0
Fire Department HQ
210,480
0
0
47,920
3,002
0
Tumwater Valley Golf Course
548,100
0
0
City Hall
199,120
5,675
0
54,600
5,629
0
248,480
1,319
0
34,932
6,288
0
234,760
0
0
1
0
800
1,685,392
28,542
800
North End Fire Station
Public Works Shop
Public Works Shop 2
Facilities Building
Library
Historic Buildings
Total
0
Water and Sewer Operat ions
Water and sewage facilities were audited by examining utility bills fr om
Pug et Sound Energ y and also during two tours of city fa ciliti es. Tumwater 's
water and sewage facilities include nearly fort y water pumps, wells, and sewage
lift stations. Al so included in this category is a water treatment plant that handles
water contaminated with tetrachloroeth ylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE) .
Thi s federally listed Superfund site is managed by both the State of Washington
I The historic buildings did use electricity in 2006, although their usage was folded into other
accounts and not separated out by facility.
52
and the City of Tumwater and represents approxi mately 30% of the electricity
used by the city in 2006. The City lists over 15,000 water, sewer and storm drain
accounts in its General Information file. Additionally, the city' s water and sewer
infrastructure includes nearly 183 miles of water mains , sewer lines and storm
water pipes (http://www.ci.tumwateLwa.us/CitytJIo20Departments/General%20
Information.pdf).
It should be noted that while the Climate Protection Program focused on
municipal greenhouse gas emissions, emissions from the water and sewage sector
represent the greater community's use of these services. An analysis of utility
bills from Puget Sound Energy showed that water and sewage operations
consumed more than 3.3 million kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2006, or
approximately 57% of the City of Tumwater's total electricity usage.
Tumwater is a partner in the Lacey-Olympia-Tumwater-Thurston County
(LOTT) Alliance, a water treatment cooperative that receives between ten and
twelve million gallons of wastewater per day at its Olympia treatment plant
(http://www.1ottonline .org/plant.htm).
Several lift stations throughout the city of
Tumwater allow sewage to reach the plant through a gravity feed (Wayne
Lobaugh, personal communication). The facility reclaims wastewater for
irrigation use in the city of Olympia and also purchases green tags to offset
greenhouse gas emissions associated with its operations (http://www.1ott
online.org/conservation.htm). Work is currently underway to supply the City of
Tumwater with reclaimed water from LOTT's Budd Inlet plant.
53
Streetlights & Traffic Signals
The City owns and operates numerous street and traffi c lights situated
along its seventy-six miles of streets and in its parks , having more than 58
individual locations listed on 2006 utility bills along with others that are grouped
together under one listing. Tumwater uses high pressure sodium vapor
streetlights and a mixture of incandescent and more energy efficient light-emitting
diode (LED) traffic signals. A traffic signal conversion is currently underway;
older traffic signals are being replaced with newer LED technology. As of
November 2007, approximately ten traffic signals have been replaced and all of
Tumwater's signals should be utilizing LED technology by 2013. Analysis of
PSE utility bills shows that in 2006, the city's streetlights and traffic signals
consumed 865,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity. This represents roughly 15% of
the city's municipal electricity use for 2006 .
Motor Pool
All data for 2006 motor pool operations came from the Public Works
Department's fuel records. According to fuel transaction records for 2006, the
City of Tumwater had approximately forty vehicles and/or pieces of equipment
that consumed diesel fuel, and ninety that consumed gasoline. These include
emergency vehicles such as police, fire and paramedic vehicles as well as work
trucks, administrative vehicles and equipment for the Parks and Recreation
department. The fleet also includes one hybrid-electric and one fully electric
vehicle. Tumwater's vehicle fleet consumed approximately 20,000 gallons of
54
diesel fuel and 47,000 gallons of gasoline in the year 2006. A breakdown of fuel
use by vehicle type is included in Table 3.
Table 3. Motor fuel usage by the City of Tumw ater in 2006 . Data from City of Tumwater
internal records .
Full Size Auto
0
$0
Gasoline use
(Gallons)
12,915
Mid Size Auto
0
$0
229
$568
Subcompact Auto
0
$0
100
$264
19,966
$50,034
2,491
$4,713
Light TruckfSUV
0
$0
30,534
$77 ,094
VanpoolVan
0
$0
394
$1,009
Motorcycles
0
$0
133
$355
19,966
$50,034
46,794
$116,156
Vehicle Category
Heavy Truck
Total
Diesel Use
(Gallons)
Cost
Cost
$32 ,154
Employee Commute
Data for energy consumption from employee commute came from surveys
conducted for Washington State's Commute Trip Reduction Program. Several
estimates and assumptions had to be made with this data. The surveys are
conducted every two years, and data for 2005 had to be used in the analysis for
2006. The data only included 108 emplo yees that work at the City Hall Campus,
which includes City Hall and two Public Works buildings. The data was
extrapolated out to estimate total employee miles driven by all of Tumwater's
municipal employees.
Estimates of employee schedules were used to find a total number of
employee miles driven in 2005. It was estimated that 50% of Tumwater' s
55
employees work a compressed week, where 50% worked a traditional five day,
forty hour work week. Compressed schedule s were either a 9/80 schedule (80
hours in 9 days) or a 4/10 schedul e (40 hours over 4 days). It was also assumed
that each employee report s to work for fifty weeks of the year (Debbie Lund,
personal communication). According to the survey, the average one-way trip for
n<
each employee at the City was 8.6 miles in 2005, giving a round-trip total of 17.2
fc
miles for each employee. Using the estimated employee numbers, it was shown
A
that in 2005, City employees traveled slightly more than 600,000 miles for
II
commute trips . A breakdown by schedule type is included in Table 4.
Table 4. Tota l conun ute miles driven by City of T umwater employees in 2005 by schedule type.
Source: internal records.
Commute
Number of
Commute
Total Miles by
Schedule Type
DayslYear
Employees
MileslDay
Schedule
sl
40 hours in 5 days
76
250
17.2
326,800
u
40 hours in 4 days
38
200
17.2
147,060
80 hours in 9 days
38
225
17.2
130,720
s(
152
Total
604, 580
21
6.
Waste
Data for Tumwater' s waste and recycling program s was provided by
Pacific Dispos al, Tumwater's trash and recycling service provid er. According to
their record s, the City of Tum water disposed of approximately 11 tons of garbage
and recycled 36 tons of material in 2006
2
.
F
After information regardin g gree nhouse gas reduction initiatives had been presented to City
Council, it was noted that the data for waste coll ection may have contained errors. Th e data show
the amount of garbage collected declining from over 50 tons in 1999 to approximately 11 tons in
200 1, where it remai ns constant through the end of2006. The amount of recycl ables reported
remains constant at approxima tely 30 tons from 1997 to 2003, and then begins to climb. These
2
56
tli
2000 Audits
Electricity Usage for Buildings, Water/Sewage and Ligh ting
In order to quantify electricity and natural gas usag e for the city for 2000,
Puget Sound Energy was contacted for assistance, as the City of Tumwater did
not have its copies of the 2000 utility bills on hand . Puget Sound Energy
forwarded a list of all of Tumwater's Statement Accounts for that year.
According to that report, municipal operations consumed approximately 4.2
million kilowatt-hours of electricity and roughly 28,500 therms of natural gas in
2000. The data was not furnished by sector, and in order to get an estimate of the
share of buildings, water and sewage operations, and lighting, energy data for the
years 2001 through 2006 was used to construct an overall average ratio of energy
usage. It turned out that for those years, electricity usage for buildings, water and
sewage operations and lighting accounted for 28.1%,60.4% and 11.6%,
respectively. The figures provided by PSE indicate that in the years between
2000 and 2006 municipal electricity usage increased by 39.3% (approximately
6.5% annually) while natural gas consumption increased by 0.3% between 2000
and 2006 .
Motor Pool
Data for Tumwater's 2000 motor pool fuel consumption came from the
Finance Department's aggregate of monthly fuel reports that were collected by
the Public Works Operations Manager. Once again, city vehicles included
figures could be accurate , although the data seemed strange. Inquirie s to Pacific Disposal were
not answered, and so this data set should be regarded with skepticism.
57
emergency, administrative and other work vehicles. City vehicles utilized
approximately 45,000 gallons of fuel in 2000 , although this data is not readily
separated into gasoline and diesel amounts. Using the Public Works department's
fuel data from several years, an average fuel mix trend of 70% gasoline to 30%
diesel became apparent. This was applied to the 2000 fuel usage data to estimate
that in that year, the city consumed approximately 31,500 gallons of gasoline and
13,500 gallons of diesel fuel.
Commute Trip Reduction
In order to obtain CTR data for the year 2000, travel trends from the 1999
and 2001 surveys were averaged to produce a number for 2000, 18.3 miles per
day for each of 182 total city employees. Again, it was assumed that half of the
employees worked traditional40-hour weeks, while half participated in a
compressed work week , either a 9/80 or 4/10 schedule. After analyzing the CTR
data, it was shown that in 2000, employees traveled approximately 522,000 miles
for commute trips.
W
5t
Va
Waste
Err
Pacific Disposal provided data for Tumwater's 2000 garbage and
Wi
recycling habits . According to their records, the city produced approximately 38
To
tons of garbage and recycled 30 tons of material in 2000, including mixed paper,
cardboard, and aluminum cans. As mentioned previously, this data is somewhat
suspect.
58
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Totals
Once the City of Tumwater's energy consumption data had been collected
for the years 2000 and 2006, the CACP software provided by ICLEI was utilized
in order to obtain greenhouse gas emissions totals. All of the energy and resource
use data were entered into the software, which uses several coefficients in order to
report on the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the specified energy use.
The software reports greenhouse gas emissions in equivalent-Co- (e-C0 2 ) where
the known greenhouse gas concentrations and amounts from each fuel or energy
source are converted and expressed in terms of C02. Table 5 shows the
greenhouse gas contributions of each sector for the years 2000 and 2006.
Emissions data is also represented in Figure 1.
Table 5. Greenhouse gas emissions by sector for 2000 and 2006. Source: Report from CACP
software. Greenhouse gas emissions expressed in tons of e-C0 2.
Emissions Average
Percentage of 2000
Percentage of Growth by Annual
2000
Total
2006
2006 Total Percentage Change
777
Buildings
24.7
1,083
24.3
39.4
6.56
1,292
41.1
1,810
40 .7
40.1
6.68
Streetlights
247
7.9
472
10.6
91.1
15.18
Vehicle Fleet
478
15.2
712
16.0
49.0
8.16
Employee Commute
325
10.3
368
8.3
13.2
2.20
22
0.7
6
0.1
-72.7
-12.11
3,141
100.0
4,451
100.0
40.4
6.73
Water/Sewage
Waste
Total
59
2000 -,-- - -'N 1800
o 1600
~ 1400
til
-1-
-1 - -
-
-1- -
-
- --
-
- - - - -- - - --
-
_
-
-
-
---,
._------
-
- -
1200
_c: 1000
.9
til
c:
o
til
til
800
600
400 200
2000
. 2006
o
Figure 1. Tumwater greenhouse gas emissions by sector, 2000 and 2006. Reported in tons of e
CO 2 .
Tumwater's municipal greenhouse gas emissions grew by approximately
40% between the years 2000 and 2006. Given this overall rise in greenhouse gas
emissions, it is logical to conclude that GHG emissions for 1990 were lower than
they were in 2000, but there was no way to test this hypothesis in the absence of a
complete data set. Once levels of greenhouse gas emissions had been collected
for the baseline and interim years, the next step was to identify measures the city
could adopt in order to reduce its overall greenhouse gas emissions to comply
with the US Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement and ICLEI.
60
Chapter 4. Identification of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Measures
In order to construct a comprehensive list of actions the City of Tumwater
could utilize to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, several meetings were held
with representatives from various municipal departments within the city and also
with outside municipalities. Additionally, outside organi zations were contacted
for assistance and some ideas came from meetings held with the City of
Tumwater's General Government Committee, all over a period of several months.
The City of Tumwater's historic homes were not included in any greenhouse gas
reduction projects, as altering their insulation, windows, lighting and other
features would possibly compromise the historic integrity of the buildings.
Puget Sound Energy Audit of Tumwat er City Hall Energy Consumption
In April of2007, a representative from Puget Sound Energy visited the
city in order to investigate Tumwater's municipal buildings for energy-saving
opportunities that could help the city reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. The
audit consisted of a walk-through of City Hall as well as providing the
representative with information regarding the operation of city buildings. City
Hall was chosen to serve as a template; the reasoning being that once all measures
were identified for that building, they could be applied to other buildings.
Lighting retrofits were one of the first measures identified. According to
the U.S . Department of Energy, lighting accounts for 30% of energy use in typical
office buildings, and several strategies were identified in this area
(http://www.eere.energy.govlbuildings/info/officel). A great deal of the lighting
61
technology on the main floor of City Hall and parts of the first floor
(underground) was found to be of the T12 fluoresc ent variety. The T12 light
bulbs in use in Tumwater's City Hall and other buildings consume 40 watts of
electricity apiece , not including energy used by the magnetic ballasts associated
with these lights. As was noted during the audit , a switch to smaller, more
efficient T8 fluorescent tubes, which consume 32-34 watts apiece , and more
efficient electronic ballasts would help the city to reduce its energ y consumption
and greenhouse gas emissions (Personal communication from Bill Steigner and
Greg Adamich). These lights are also currently operating in some of Tumwater's
other city buildings.
Other lighting opportunities were discovered in the City Hall lobby, where
it was noted that 75-watt incandescent light bulbs were in use in several recessed
can lighting applications. The city could switch to 13-watt compact fluorescent
fixtures to reduce its energy usage. Finally, it was found that the city is currently
using incandescent technology in its emergency exit signs , each of which
currently consumes 30 watts of electricity. It was noted that light-emitting diode
(LED) technology is currently available for this and many other applications, and
in this case, would operate approximately 90% more efficiently
(http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfrn?c=exit_signs.pr_exit_signs).
The next set of strategies identified was an upgrade to City Hall's heating,
ventilation and air conditioning (HYAC) system . As the name implies, these
systems typically consist of a heating component, such as a boiler, air
conditioners, an air handler to distribute heated and cooled air, and a ventilation
62
system to keep fresh air coming into the system. In the case of City Hall, two
boilers provide heat for the HVAC system. The city could look into retrofi tting
the system with more efficient boilers, as those in operation date back to the
building's opening in 1988. Another HVAC measure that was identified was the
partitioning of system operations between the police station (housed inside City
Hall) and the other portions of City Hall. The entire building is currently on the
same system; there is only one zone to be heated or cooled . Among the
advantages of more modern HVAC technology is to separate buildings into
distinct zones that can be heated , cooled or shut down entirely. This would be
beneficial in City Hall, as HVAC operations are only needed in the police station
during the night. Currently, the entire building is conditioned all day, every day
of the year. In addition to zone regulation, newer systems have more advanced
computer controls that further help reduce HVAC energy usage, which can make
up more than one-third of the energy use in a typical office building
(http://www.eere.energy.govlbuildings/info /office/; Greg Adamich, personal
communication).
It should be noted that the City Hall HVAC system contains a flaw that
dates back to its original construction. When it was designed, the system was
supposed to have two air handling systems; one each for heated and cooled air.
When the system was finished , however, budgetary constraints had led to a single
air handling system, meaning that the entire building could only be heated or
cooled at one time. Although changing the original design of the HVAC system
63
helped reduce costs, it increased the amount of energy needed to condition the air
inside City Hall (Greg Adamich, personal communication).
Ii
In addition to technological strategies, several behavioral and or policy
p
measures were identified as well. It was noted during the PSE audit that City
Council could approve a range of temperatures in the thermostats that would
d
enable the city to lower its energy consumption and that there were several
l(
applications for more efficient office equipment throughout City Hall.
u
Additionally, the auditor made a general suggestion that the city could incorporate
energy efficient design into new building construction (Bill Steigner, personal
communication). Once GHG reduction measures had been identified for City
n
Hall , meetings were held with representatives from the Facilities Department to
construct a comprehensive list of measures that could help reduce greenhouse gas
h
emissions from Tumwater's municipal buildings sector.
Meetings with Facilities (Building Sector)
al
In a series of meetings with Facilities Department staff, greenhouse gas
t<.l
reduction strategies that expanded upon recommendations made for City Hall
ai
were outlined for Tumwater's other municipal buildings. All of the specific
c(
building recommendations are summarized in Table 6, and there were also
7~
general recommendations that could apply in many or all of Tumwater's
municipal buildings. Categories for proposed solutions included lighting, HV AC,
windows, insulation and water conservation. Two of the City's newest buildings,
the Timberland Regional Library and the North End Fire Station, were
ill
01
o
64
constructed recently and already include some of the most efficient technology for
lighting as well as space heating and cooling that is currently available (Greg
Adamich, personal communication).
At the opposite end of the energy spectrum, one building did not
demonstrate any potential for improvement. The second Public Works building,
located inside a compound where Tumwater's municipal vehicles are also stored,
utilizes electricity to power high-intensity lights, fuel pumps, and some vehicles
which must be plugged into electrical outlets overnight. Due to the inherently
large amounts of energy needed for these operations, there were no energy
reduction strategies outlined for this building.
Additionally, a renovation for the golf course pro-shop/restaurant building
had already been under discussion when the Climate Protection Program began.
The renovation, once complete, will outfit that facility with more energy efficient
windows and doors as well as water heating and refrigeration systems. The fresh
air intake system will also be coupled with the hot water circulating pump in order
to heat the incoming air and reduce the amount of energy needed to provide warm
air to the building in colder months. One area not being addressed at the golf
course is indoor lighting, which currently consists of some TI2 fluorescent and
75-watt incandescent technology (Chuck Denney, personal communication).
Early into the process of uncovering methods to reduce Tumwater's
municipal greenhouse gas emissions, it was discovered that lighting retrofit
opportunities existed in one of the Public Works shops, the Facilities building,
Old Town Center and the Tumwater Valley golf course pro shop/restaurant
65
building. These buildings were all identified as having less efficien t T l 2 light
bulb and magnetic ballast technology.
Improvements to existing HVAC and heating systems in city buildings
T
were the next strategies discussed in meetings with Facilities staff. The older, less
efficient boilers in operation in Tumwater City Hall , the HVAC system in the
Fit
an
main Public Works shop, the heating system for the Facilities building and the
co
boiler in the basement of Old Town Center were all identified as equipment that
could be upgraded in order to reduce energy use and its associated greenhouse gas
cc
emissions. Additionally, it was acknowledged that the hot water tank in Old
Town Center could also be replaced with a newer, more efficient model.
ar
Two buildings were targeted with suggested impro vements in windows
and/or insulation. The Facilities building, which was originally built for storage
cc
and not as office space, contains minimal insulation along with inefficient single
pane aluminum frame windows. Improvements to both the windows and
ec
of
insulation of the Facilities building were identified as another measure the city
ef
could use to reduce its municipal greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the
co
ceiling above the two-story high gymnasium inside Old Town Center would
re
benefit from a thicker layer of insulation.
Table 6. A listing of possible energy redu ction strategies for Tumwater's municipal buildings, by
. type. Sourc e: Intema I d ata.
project
Lighting Retrofits
HVAC/Heating System Windows
City Hall
City Hall
Public Works Shop 1 Public Works Shop 1
Facilities Building
Facilities Building
Old Town Center
Golf Course Bldg
Old Town Center
Facilities Bldg
Insulation
Water Systems
Facilities Bldg
~II
Old Town Center
co
eli
eq
an
co
66
; Systems
General Recommendations
Several items were listed as general recommendations that the City of
Tumwater could adopt in order to lower its municipal greenhouse gas emissions.
First, it was acknowledged that water-saving technology such as flow restrictors
and aerators could be applied to showerheads and faucets in city buildings to help
conserve water and thus save energy. The City of Tumwater has an active water
conservation program that works with citizens to reduce water usage in the
community, and the equipment to retrofit municipal plumbing fixtures is readily
available. A related suggestion was to lower the temperatures in water heat ers
around the city, where appropriate, to reduce energy usage.
In addition to water-saving technology, it was recognized that the city
could reduce future greenhouse gas emissions by switching its office and kitchen
equipment to more efficient technology when current equipment reaches the end
of its useful life. It was also recommended that the city strive to improve energy
efficiency standards of new construction projects, going beyond current building
codes and utilizing energy-efficient building techniques and office equipment to
reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with future city expansion.
Another suggested measure was a behavioral awareness campaign that
could educate employees about reducing energy usage to help the city meet its
climate protection goals. Several strategies include turning off lights and
equipment when not in use, closing blinds at the end of the day in winter months
and improving employee participation in city recycling programs. The campaign
could disseminate information in the form of guidebooks, posted fliers and
67
messages on the city's internal email system. The city already had som e
experience with this concept. In 2003, increasing energy costs helped push
municipal energy conservation; among other measures, stickers were posted
beneath light switches to remind employees to tum offlights when not in use
\
(Doug Baker, personal communication).
S
In addition to greenhouse gas reduction strategies that were uncovered
through research and consultations with outside and internal personnel, members
a]
of Tumwater's City Council and General Government Committee also had
SI
recommendations for meeting Tumwater's greenhouse gas reduction goals.
tl
Committee and council members suggested that research be performed on LED
1
office lighting, electric vehicles and solar power, among other measures.
Suggestions made at city meetings were researched and reported on at subsequent
meetings. Although not all suggestions made by committee and council members
were applicable to Tumwater's unique situation, some of their measures were
included in the initial committee discussions that would ultimately decide what
greenhouse gas reduction strategies the City of Tumwater would adopt.
PSE Water Audit & Internal Meetings for Water Sector
In 2006, nearly 60% of the City of Tumwater's municipal electricity usage
and over 40% of the city's greenhouse gas emissions were attributed to the water
and sewage sector. Meaningful reductions in Tumwater's annual greenhouse gas
emissions would have to include measures to reduce energy usage in this sector,
so another energy audi t was conducted by Puget Sound Energy, focusing on
68
1
Tumwater's water and sewer systems. The top three electricity consuming-and
greenhouse gas contributing-facilities were targeted for energy audits. These
were the Palermo Pump Station, Bush Treatment Plant and CSt. Booster Station,
which together in 2006 consumed 84% of the electricity used by the water and
sewer sector, and 48% of the electricity used by the municipal sector as a whole.
In the opinion of the PSE auditor, the observed water and sewage systems
already use the most efficient equipment and processes available. Water and
sewer operations inherently require a massive amount of energy, working against
the flow of gravity to move liquids throughout the entire community of
Tumwater. One recommendation was that the city perform an equipment
inventory during its next city-wide five-year water systems audit, in order to
uncover opportunities to upgrade the equipment and reduce energy usage
associated with the water and sewage sector (Bill Steigner, personal
communication).
As the PSE energy audit uncovered few suggestions on methods by which
the City of Tumwater could reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with its
water and sewer operations, a meeting was held with Tumwater's Water
Resources Program Manager to discuss the city's water conservation efforts.
Tumwater has an active indoor water conservation program which includes the
distribution of free low-flow toilets and accessories, water saving kits that include
low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators, incentives and rebates for LOTT
customers to purchase appliances that utilize less water, and customer education
regarding water conservation. The City of Tumwater has also given water-saving
69
kits to non-LOTI customers so that water conservation could be mor e widespread
throughout the community. In 2006, a conservation education program was
conducted in area schools, and education materials are included with customers'
water utility bills. LOTT also maintains a water conservation website that offers
tips on how members of the community can reduce their water usage, thereby
c
reducing their GHG emissions (Dan Smith, personal communication).
n
The City of Tumwater also conducts its own independent water
I
conservation programs. In an irrigation audit, the top twenty water users were
identified and offered a $1,000 rebate to make physical improvements to current
systems in order to reduce water use. The city has run water efficiency education
(
I
programs on local television and also held an irrigation workshop for residential
customers in July of2007; discussion topics included planting techniques, drip
I
irrigation and maintenance issues (Dan Smith, personal communication).
On a broader scale, it is hoped that within ten years the city will be able to
use reclaimed water from LOTI's operations for irrigation. Currently, hookups
I
(
for reclaimed water are required in newly developed areas . The city offers
outdoor water efficiency kits that include hose nozzles, rain gauges and irrigation
f
literature, and has also given away irrigation timers that sense how much water is
on the ground and decrease or increase output accordingly. Overall, the city's
t
indoor water conservation efforts have been considered successful, though the
(
program may be nearing its full potential. The future of Tumwater's water
r
conservation efforts will focus on reducing water usage outdoors (Dan Smith,
t
personal communication).
70
Motor Pool
Greenhouse gas reduction measures for the City of Tumwater's motor
pool were derived through interviews with Tumwater's Public Works staff and by
visiting the City of Olympia's motor pool. Olympia is undertaking its own
climate protection measures, and the Public Works department adopted goals of
reducing both greenhouse gas emissions and overall fuel use in its motor pool.
Resolutions aimed at reducing pollution from the vehicle fleet were adopted in
2004 and 2005. In 2007, Olympia crafted a Green Fleets Initiative, which
outlines methods that can be used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sets
policies to help achieve these goals (http://www.olympiawa.govINRJrdonlyres/
226AB400-C52F-483C-BE5A-7BF433BE7F49/01P0licy_Green_Fleets_2007.pdf;
Dave Seavey, personal communication).
The City of Olympia worked to reduce the size of its vehicle fleet,
purchase hybrid-electric vehicles and promote vehicle-sharing between
departments. Each department that utilizes city fleet vehicles became responsible
for managing their own fuel budgets, which helped lead to an overall reduction of
fuel usage. Vehicles were outfitted with tire-pressure sensors to help decrease
excessive fuel usage, and the city also began a pilot vehicle-monitoring program
to monitor how the vehicles were being operated when out in the field.
Olympia's Public Works department also began to utilize biodiesel as a means of
reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In 2004, the city began to use B20 fuel (20 %
biodiesel, 80% conventional diesel). Beginning in 2006, B40 (40% biodiesel,
60% conventional diesel) was implemented for the city's vehicle fleet
71
(http: //www.olympiawa.gov/community/sustainability/sustainabilityfuelemissons.
htm; Dave Seavey, personal communication).
Building on the lessons learned from Olympia and adapting strategies to
Tumwater's unique condition, several measures were identified to help reduce
fuel usage and greenhouse gas emissions from the city's motor pool.
Recommendations for the vehicle fleet included removing mid-size automobiles
from the fleet and using the city's hybrid-electric vehicle more often, purchasing
hybrid and/or more fuel efficient vehicles when older vehicles were retired from
the fleet , and initiating tire pressure monitoring and electronic vehicle monitoring
programs, among others.
Research was conducted on electronic vehicle monitoring programs,
whereby GPS technology is installed in vehicles, transmitting driver behavior
trends to a central computer. Accompanying computer software would allow the
city's fleet supervisor to observe how the vehicles were being used in the field;
hard acceleration and braking events as well as excessive speed are brought to the
supervisor's attention in the software program. These driving behaviors can
decrease vehicle fuel efficiency, resulting in higher fuel usage and the emission of
higher levels of greenhouse gases. In addition, the software can track the routes
driven by the city's vehicles, bringing unnecessary trips to attention (Don Hults,
personal communication). Combined with employee education, these tools can
improve gas mileage and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Other strategies identified included transporting heavy equipment to
worksites via trailer versus driving the machinery, which overall exhibit very poor
72
fuel economy, expanding the use of vehicles which can perform more than one
function (interoperable vehicles), thereby lessenin g the need for several vehicles
at a single worksite, and purchasing electric trucks for Parks and Recreation
employees. The use ofbiodiesel fuel was discussed, although there was concern
about storage, as the city has limited fuel storage capability (Dave Barclift,
personal communication). One final suggestion was that the city purchase carbon
offsets for the vehicles that are used frequently. While not a method of reducing
greenhouse gas emissions, it was thought that investing in cleaner technology was
another way the city could commit to combating the challenge of global climate
change.
Employee Commute & Waste
Greenhouse gas emissions from Tumwater's employee commute sector
have typically been addressed through the implementation of a Commute Trip
Reduction (CTR) program, which provides incentives for employees to reduce the
amount of single occupancy vehicle trips, which both relieves traffic and reduces
greenhouse gas emi ssions from the transportation sector. In order to further
reduce emissions from this sector, a strategy of ramping up Tumwater's CTR
program was suggested. This could involve strategies such as providing bus
passes to employees and promoting bicycle and pedestrian travel.
Another facet of the CTR program is non-traditional work arrangements.
In order to reduce emissions associated with employee travel, Tumwater city
employees could be encouraged to adopt compressed work weeks, though several
73
employees already take advantage of this schedule and there may not be much
more opportunity in this area. Another strategy suggested was for employees to
telecommute when possible. The City of Tumwater currently has no
telecommuting policies, although some type of policy could be created. (Eric
Trimble, personal communication).
For the waste sector, the strategies of reducing employee waste generation
and increasing recycling efforts were identified. Reducing employee waste fits in
with a previously mentioned measure, an employee behavioral awareness
program designed to promote overall sustainability in city operations. In a
meeting with Mike Matlock, Tumwater Planning and Facilities Director, it was
agreed that the city could and would begin to expand recycling efforts in city
buildings.
Public Outreach
Because the City of Tumwater's Climate Protection Program dealt almost
exclusively with municipal operations, there were few opportunities for public
outreach. Plans were made to develop a website that discussed the city 's
commitment to minimizing its impacts on climate change. Additional topics to be
r
posted on the site included an overview of climate change issues and its impacts
on Washington State as well as a comprehensive list of strategies and resources
c
that citizens of Tumwater could use to help the city in its fight against climate
change. It was thought that this would be one way for the city's Climate
Protection Program to reach out to the greater community of Tumwater.
74
Another suggestion for public outreach was introduced by City
Councilmember Bruce Zeller. He asked that research be conducted into the
feasibility of installing LED technology inside city buildings and also setting up
an educational display so visitors to city buildings could learn more about energy
efficiency and Tumwater's efforts to combat climate change. City Administrator
Doug Baker suggested a storyboard display that could be featured in the lobby of
City Hall, along with a pilot installation of LED lights . A recessed LED lighting
fixture was ordered to replace a traditional incandescent light in City Hall. Before
this could serve as a pilot project with demonstration materials, however, the light
was removed due to an employee complaint. The LED fixture, while using one
sixth the energy of the standard incandescent bulb, emitted enough light to cause
visual discomfort to the employee. In order for this LED study and public
demonstration to move forward , research must be conducted to determine the
feasibility of installing dimmer switches with future LED fixtures.
As mentioned previously, Tumwater has an actively operating water
conservation program. Water conservation kits are made available to citizens and
conservation literature is also mailed out with citizens' water bills. Although
more research was not put into this area, finding innovative new ways to help
citizens conserve water would be another approach to reducing the community's
contributions to global climate change.
75
Chapter 5. Greenhouse Gas Reduction Quantification of Measures
II
After determining what steps the City of Tumwater coul d take to reduce
w
its greenhouse gas emissions, the next step was to quantify the amount of
bl
reduction that each measure could deliver. This was done with the CACP
T
software provided by ICLEI, consulting with city staff, and in some cases by
taking physical inventories of current technology in use throughout the city. The
o
resultant figures represent estimates, as it is not always possible to detennine
g
exactly how much reduction in energy usage and GHG emissions will occur until
Ii
measures are put in place clue to limited efficiencies and human behavior, among
other factors.
1
c
Greenhouse Gas Reduction by Sector
·n
Building Sector
For the building sector, meetings were held with Greg Adamich, a Level II
Buildings and Grounds Maintenance Worker, in order to determine the amount of
energy that could be saved by implementing various measures. His knowledge of
both Tumwater's current operations and the energy specifications of existing
technology proved invaluable during the process of quantifying greenhouse gas
emissions reductions. He was able to determine potential energy savings of
adopting new technology, which later were translated into greenhouse gas
reductions using the CACP software.
In order to determine the energy savings of a comprehensive lighting
retrofit, a physical count was made of all the T12 light bulbs that are still in use in
76
Tumwater's municipal buildings. Based on the number of T12s , Greg Adam ich
was able to estimate how many magnetic ballasts were in place to operate those
bulbs, and how many electronic ballasts would be required to fully convert
Tumwater's interior fluorescent lighting system to be more energy efficient.
There was also some emissions reduction potential found in the prospect
of replacing recessed incandescent light bulbs with more efficient LED bulbs in
general lighting applications. Recessed can lights that employed incandescent
lighting were inventoried, and estimates were made as to the greenhouse gas
reduction potential of switching these bulbs to lower wattage LEDs. Because
LED and compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs have similar wattages, those recessed
cans currently utilizing CFL technology were not counted in the inventory. The
. number of incandescent exit signs used in the event of power outages and fires
were inventoried, as well. LED technology can be used in this application, and
those fixtures use less than 10% of the energy consumed by current technology.
For other equipment in municipal buildings, Greg Adamich provided
estimates as to how much energy could be saved by adopting newer technology.
These figures were applied to a breakdown of energy use in typical office
buildings, provided by the United States Department of Energy. For example, it
was estimated that new boilers for City Hall would be 20% more efficient than the
current models. In a typical office building, water heating accounts for 9% of
energy use. So replacing the boilers in City Hall and Old Town Center would
save the city 20% of 9% of the energy used in those buildings each year. That
particular measure would save approximately 15,000 kWh of electricity per year,
77
based on 2006 energy usage. Using ICLEI software, this translate s into a GHG
reduction of 8 tons of e-C02 per year, an overall reduction equivalent to roughly
0.5% of Tumwater's GHG reduction goal.
Motor Pool Sector
Greenhouse gas reduction potential was also estimated for the motor pool.
Measures identified included electronic vehicle monitoring and tire pressure
monitoring programs. An estimate of fuel savings potential from the AccuTag
Vehicle System product information listing (5% for city driving, which represents
virtually all municipal traffic in Tumwater) was applied to all vehicles that were
considered eligible for monitoring (vehicles with the heaviest usage). This
enabled an overall fuel savings estimate to be created; and once entered into
ICLEI's software, a greenhouse gas reduction figure was generated. Similarly,
using the estimate that keeping tires properly inflated can boost fuel efficiency by
2.5%, a figure for the tire pressure monitoring initiative was derived.
Other Sectors
Estimates could not be easily derived for the other sectors, including water
usage and employee commute. Although ramping up the city's CTR program and
trying to further enhance the community's water conservation program and
upgrade plumbing fixtures around the city were measures identified during the
initial study, it was not possible to measure the energy saving outcomes before
these programs were implemented, and these measures are also partially
78
dependent on the future growth of Tumwater' s municipal government. Likewise,
greenhouse gas emissions from streetli ght usage and waste generation will depend
on the city's growth over the next several years. While predictions are available
for the growth of Tumwater's population over the next several decades, the city's
government may not grow at a similar pace.
Sum of Measures
Once energy reduction estimates had been made for the measures
identified, the CACP software was used to generate figures for greenhouse gas
reduction potential. Table 7 shows the sum of all of the measures that were
identified (as was presented to Tumw ater's General Government Committee and
City Council) and also cost estimates that were derived from city staff and outside
representatives.
It became obvious that the measures outlined would not be nearly enough
for the city to meet its reduction goal of7 % below 2000 levels-the measures
identified would only take Tumwater 6% of the way to its ultimate goal of a GHG
reduction of 1,530 tons per year.
Additional Measures
Additional measures were researched, including installing solar panels and
purchasing green tags and carbon offsets through Puget Sound Energy's Green
Power program and TerraPass, respectively. Tumwater City Councilmember Pete
Kmet encouraged conducting research on solar energy, which could be used to
79
Table 7. Itemized greenhouse gas reduction potential for various strategies derived for the City of
Tumwater. Sources : Energy and GHG reduction are from CACP software reports. Cost
information is from personal communication.
Measure Name
Fluorescent Light Retrofit
Cost
GHG % of Goal
Energy Reduction Reduction
(1,530
(per year) (tons/year)
tons)
CostITon
Reduction
$16,957
39,170 kWh
20.173
1.32
$840.58
$9,400
11,934 kWh
6.146
0.40
$1,529.45
Purchase New Boilers for
City Hall and Old Town
Center
$80,000
15,306 kWh
7.883
0.52
$10,148.42
Facilities Heating System
$6,000
4,367 kWh
2.249
0.15
$2,667.85
$800
3,178 kWh
1.637
0.11
$488.70
Old Town Center Insulation
$6,000
6,688 kWh
3.445
0.23
$1,741.65
City Hall Water Heater
$8,000
3,136 kWh
1.615
0.11
$4,953.56
City Hall Lobby LED Retrofit
$2,500
1,972 kWh
1.016
0.07
$2,460.63
$60,000
1,091 .kWh
0.562
0.04 $106,761.57
$1,200
1,450 gal fuel
15
0.98
$80.00
Electronic Vehicle Monitoring $80,000
2,900 gal fuel
30
1.96
$2,666.67
Labor
costs
Depends on hot
water usage
90
5.89%
LED Exit Sign Retrofit
Old Town Center Water
Heater
Facilities Windows &
Insulation
Tire Pressure Monitoring
Water Conservation Retrofit
Sum of All Actions
$270,857
generate a portion of electricity for each building. As a pilot study, estimates
were derived for solar energy systems that would provide either 10 or 25% of the
electricity required on an annual basis by Tumwater City Hall , and also for a
system that could power the city's farmers' market.
Green tags represent the purchase of electricity from renewable sources.
They can be counted toward overall greenhouse gas emissions reduction, as the
purchase supports the operation of a renewable energy source, including but not
80
limited to wind and solar power. They do not include hydropower, which is not
considered clean energy by all. Dams carry the stigma of being harmful to
salmon and drastically altering river systems, among other concerns. Under Puget
:UTo n
retion
:40.58
Sound Energy's Green Power Program, the utility funds the generation of
electricity from renewable sources, and passes this cost on to consumers
i29.45
interested in supporting clean energy. One green tag represents 1,000 kilowatt
148.42
hours of renewable energy (https://www.greentagsusa.orgiGreenTags/index.cfrn).
367.85
In addition to participating in Puget Sound Energy's Green Power
~88 .70
741 .65
Program, the purchase of carbon offsets for the city's vehicle fleet through was
953.56
also researched. In this case, automobile GHG emissions are offset by investing
460 .63
in wind energy projects, farm biomass power projects or landfill gas capture
761.57
(http://www.terrapass.com/projects/). The purchase would be made from a
$80.00
,666.67
company called TerraPass, which specializes in selling carbon offsets.
It is import ant to note that the purchase of green tags and carbon offsets do
not represent an actual reduction in resource use by the purchaser. Green tags
help to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of the overall power grid by
encouraging the development of renewable energy. Carbon offsets represent
funding for initiatives that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including but not
limited to renewable energy production. Carbon offsets and green tags are not
necessarily locally generated. For example, project location s listed in the
portfolios of Terra Pass and Bonneville Environmental Foundation include
Minnesota, North Dakota, Kansas, Alaska, Maine, and Kentucky
(http://www.terrapass.com/projects/portfolio.html; http://www.b-e
81
f.orglrenewables/supply.shtm). These companies are based out of San Francisco,
California, and Portland, Oregon, respectively. Wh ile green tags and carbon
offsets should not be considered "silver bullets" in the fight against climate
change, they represent action that can be taken to promote measures that reduce
greenhouse gas emissions.
Once again , ICLEI's CACP software was utilized to estimate the
greenhouse gas reduction potential of each strategy. Solar information came from
Washington Solar, a company that sells photovoltaic arrays with various
generating capacities. Reduction potential of green tags and carbon offsets was
figured by entering an overall electricity reduction into the CACP software for
Tumwater's stationary sources of electrical consumption, and by utilizing
calculators on the TerraPass website for the vehicle pool.
The purchase of green tags and carbon offsets was not considered a
solution to Tumwater's goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The idea
represents the knowledge that other reduction measures would not be enough to
bring Tumwater to its goals , and would serve as an interim measure until other
methods of reducing GHGs were identified. For example, one scenario was to
offset Tumwater's water and sewage operations, which accounted for 41 % of the
city's GHG emissions in 2006, but for which there was little or no further action
identified that could be taken to reduce these emissions. The purchase of green
tags, beyond other measures, could help the city reduce its emissions even further
than 7% below 2000 levels; indeed, the original goal of the US Mayors Climate
Protection Agreement was a 7% reduction below 1990 levels. Table 8 shows the
82
additional measures that could further reduce Tumwater 's greenhouse gas
emISSIOns.
Table 8. Additional measures that could be taken to reduce the City of Tumwater's greenhouse
emissions.
Addition al Measures
GHG % of Goa l
Reduction/Offset (1,530
CostITon
Cost Energy Reduction
(tons/year)
tons)
Reduction
Solar Power
10% Power for City Hall
$51,000
19,800 kWh/year
10.197
0.67
$5,001
25% Power for City Hall
$126,000
50,375 kWh/year
25.944
1.70
$4,857
$55,000
1,944 kWh/year
1.001
0.07
$54,945
$19,900
per year
o kWh
1,810
118.30
$11
$9,900 per
year
o kWh
846
55.29
$12
$34,900
per year
o kWh
2,999
196.01
$12
For Unleaded Vehicles
$4,000 per
Driven 1K - 5K miles/year
year
o gallons
442
28.88
$9
For Unleaded Vehicles
Driven> 5K miles/year
o gallons
363
23.73
$8
Power for Farmers Market
Green Tag Purchases
Offset Water/Sewer
Electricity Usage
Offset Building Electricity
Usage
100% Electricity Offset
Carbon Offset Purchases
$2,900 per
year
Reduction Efforts Currently Underway
Part of the ICLEI process is identifying GHG-reducing measures the city
is already implementing, regardless of whether they were initiated for that
purpose. Many of these proved impossible to quantify, either because no records
were kept, the measure was planned but not yet implemented or was simply on a
83
scale that did not lend itself to measurement. By meeting with various officials
and staff members in the city, eight measures were identified. Of thes e, water
conservation was previously described.
Tree Planting
Tumwater's Stream Team has been very active in planting trees around
the community, mainly in riparian areas. Some of their most notable projects
have been planting at the golf course and at a twelve acre parcel along Percival
Creek, which drains into Capitol Lake and ultimately into Puget Sound's Budd
Inlet. The work is done by Stream Team volunteers, using mostly hand tools.
The trees planted are those requiring little maintenance. Exact numbers of trees
are impossible to measure, but Debbie Smith, the Stream Team coordinator,
estimated that in the past several years the program has planted 10,000 or more
trees and shrubs. In addition to the Stream Team, Tumwater Parks & Recreation
plants trees as well. Over 250 trees are planted at Tumwater's golf course each
year. Trees are also planted at Tumwater's city parks at irregular intervals
(Debbie Smith and Jeff Vrabel, personal communication).
Recycling
The City of Tumwater already participates in a recycling program with
Pacific Disposal. Materials such as mixed paper (including glossy paper such as
magazine and newspaper ads), cardboard, aluminum cans, plastic bottles and film
(such as plastic grocery bags) are now collected from all of Tumwater's municipal
84
buildings. This program is a step above what was in place in early 2007, when
only mixed paper (not including glossy paper) and cardboard were collected from
all municipal buildings, and aluminum cans were collected once a year from City
Hall (Jeff Vrabel, personal communication). The expanded operations began in
the fall of2007, and data on whether the expansion has resulted in increased
recycling is not yet available.
Hybrid & Electric Vehicles
The City of Tumwater has purchased two vehicles that produce fewer
emissions than standard automobiles. The city purchased an electric autom obile
to be used for parking enforcement, and a hybrid electric vehicle for use as a
general motor pool vehicle. The electric vehicle replaced a small pickup truck,
and the hybrid-electric vehicle replaced a standard mid-size sedan. Both vehicles
replaced were approximately ten years old and were sold at auction in 2006.
Unfortunately, it was not possible to obtain greenhouse gas emissions reduction
data on these new vehicles. Mileage records were not kept for the electric
vehicle, so it was not possible to determine how much electricity it consumed, or
how much gasoline it replaced (Dave Barclift, personal communication). Mileage
statistics were also unavailable for the other vehicle, as well.
Golf Course Measures
Two greenhouse gas reduction measures have either already occurred or
are slated for Tumwater's golf course. In 2002 , the city replaced its forty
85
gasoline-powered golf carts with electric powered carts. A second measure at the
golf course, previously mentioned, entails a rehab ilitation of the pro shop and
restaurant building. Already in place was a plan to overhaul the building,
including installing energy efficient double-paned windows and doors, air-tight
metal door frames, a more efficient water heating system, a coupled water and air
heating system, and a more energy efficient refrigerator for the restaurant (Chuck
Denney, personal communication). No estimations on the electricity savings from
this project were provided, and thus a measure of greenhouse gas reduction could
not be created.
Fluorescent Lighting Upgrades
The standard fluorescent lighting used in Tumwater's municipal buildings
has been TI2 technology, until recent years, when more energy efficient T8
technology was adopted. The city's TI2 fluorescent lights are replaced with T8
bulbs on a replacement schedule, that is, when the older bulbs bum out. In
addition, the magnetic ballasts used in conjunction with the TI2 bulbs are being
replaced by electronic ballasts, which save energy and contain fewer toxic
materials. The city's Facilities Department has kept no data on how many lights
have been replaced, so it was not possible to create a greenhouse gas reduction
figure for this measure (Greg Adamich, personal communication).
86
Energy Conservation
In 2003, rising energy prices forced the city to implement an energy
conservation program. This was mainly done by an informational campaign,
reminding employees to tum off lights and machines when not in use. Overall
energy usage in the city's buildings has been on the rise since 2001, with a slight
decrease between 2005 and 2006, so the efficacy of this program is somewhat
questionable. It is possible that growth in city operations outpaced energy
conservation efforts.
LED Traffic Signals
The city has been conducting work on its approximately twenty traffic
signals, replacing incandescent light bulbs with more energy efficient LED bulbs.
This project is scheduled for completion in the next four to five years, with
roughly ten traffic signals already having been replaced.
87
Chapter 6. Adoption Process for Greenhouse Gas Reduction Measures
Path ofMeasures through Process
In October 2007, a Capital Facilities Plan (CFP) worksheet detailing the
financial aspects of implementing the proposed GHG reduction measures was
created. Table 9 shows the actions to be taken, spaced out over the next several
years. The Capital Facilities Plan, mandated by Washington State's Growth
Management Act, is a six-year plan for addressing capital projects. It is updated
each year and provides a moving six-year timetable. It is worth noting that the
approach taken in implementing Tumwater's Climate Protection Program was
unique. This program represented the first instance of a Council Committee
putting together a project along with CFP and budget proposals (Doug Baker,
personal communication).
Table 9. Greenhouse gas reduction measures proposed to Tumwater's General Government
Committee.
Measure
Cost
2008
Fluorescent light retrofits in city
buildings , LED exit sign retrofits
$27,000
2009
Purchase new heating system
or Facilities Building
$25,000
2010
Initiate vehicle usage monitoring
program
$80,000
2011
Install new boilers in City Hall
and Old Town Center
$80,000
2012
Upgrade windows and insulation
in Facilities Building
$60,000
Total
$272, 000
88
In October 2007, the 2008-2013 Capital Facilities Plan proposal was
presented to Tumwater's General Government Committee. At that same meeting,
information was presented regarding Puget Sound Energy's Resource
Conservation Manager (RCM) program. Puget Sound Energy provides grants to
help cover the costs of hiring a Resource Conservation Manager, who would work
with the city to monitor and plan for efficient uses of its various resources. The
grant would cover up to 25% of the RCM's first year salary, with the rest to be
paid by the city. In later years, energy savings accrued through the hire of the
RCM should theoretically offset the cost of that person's salary. Puget Sou nd
Energy reports that in the first year of the program, a cost savings of3-5% is
possible, with overall savings of 10-15% after three years. For the scale of
Tumwater's operations, the position would consist of a quarter-time equivalent
employee.
The General Government Committee recommended that the 2008-2013
CFP proposal be passed on to City Council for review. The GGC recommended
that the city hire a Resource Conservation Manager, with funding proposed to
come from the 2008 Budget. The Committee also recommended that in 2008 , the
city begin purchasing green tags to offset the emissions associated with
Tumwater's electricity usage in the water and sewage sector at a cost of
approximately $20,000 per year. Further, the GGC recommended that in 2010 ,
the city increase its green tag purchases to cover 100% of the city's electricity
usage, for a total cost of $35,000 per year. Councilmember Valenzuela also
suggested that the city look into attaining LEED certification on any new
89
construction projects for the city (Tumwater General Government Comm ittee
Minutes 10/25/2007). .
The General Govertunent Committee's recommendations were passed on
for review at the City Council's November 6,2007 meeting. Councilmember
Bruce Zeller recommended placing $25,000 into the Capital Facilities Plan to
fund energy efficiency upgrades in 2008, and suggested addressing the purchase
of green tags in 2009. The Council approved $25 ,000 for a Capital Facilities Plan
project, and also approved the inclusion of $12,000-$17,000 in the General Fund
Budget in order to cover the costs of hiring a resource conservation manager. The
results of these proposals were to be discussed at the Council's November 20,
2007 meeting (Tumwater City Council Minutes 11/6/2007). On that date, a
motion to approve the Budget proposal was passed . The final budget was adopted
at the City Council meeting on December 4, 2007 . (Tumwater City Council
Minutes 11/20/2007, 12/04/2007). The Capital Facilities Plan, which included
$25,000 for projects designed to reduce greenhouse gases, was adopted on
December 18, 2007 (Tumwater City Council Minutes 12/18/2007).
Work on Tumwater's Climate Action Plan, part of the ICLEI process, was
completed in August 2008 . This document includes a business-as-usual GHG
emissions growth forecast to help the city keep its emissions reductions on track.
The document also outlines all the GHG reduction measures that have thus far
been identified for Tumwater and provides guidance for implementing these
strategies.
90
Evaluation
0/Efficacy ofTumwater 's Climate Protection Program
From a govermnental standpoint, the Climate Protection Program was
successful in securing funding for capital projects and hiring personnel to carry
out work that will help the city with its greenhouse gas reduction goals. Because
the Capital Facilities Plan is reviewed each year, the potential still exists for the
other GHG reduction measures (or any new measures developed in later years) to
be introduced into the plan in any given year.
The reduction measures outlined in Table 7, which represent real potential
GHG emission reductions based on current municipal operations (versus green
tags and carbon offsets) do not sufficiently enable the City of Tumwater's
municipal operations to reach the goal of compliance with the US Mayors Climate
Protection Agreement. The only feasible method of reducing current GHG
emissions to 7% below 1990 levels by 2012 is to purchase green tags through
Puget Sound Energy's Green Power Program, purchase carbon offsets for city
vehicles, or find ways to otherwise offset emissions. Additionally, because
energy usage records were not available for the year 1990, it is not possible to
know at what point the City of Tumwater meets its climate protection goals, even
with the purchase of green tags. Working with a complete data set for the year
2000 was deemed more important than trying to estimate resource usage and
greenhouse gas emissions for the year 1990.
This conclusion is an important lesson for any community seeking to
reduce its climate impacts. There may not be concrete ways for individual
communities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the amount required to avert
91
the worst impacts of climate change (70% or more below current leve ls by 2050)
without investing tremendous capital in sustainable energy systems, including
renewable energy and alternative fuels. In Tumwater's case, the city could reduce
its current GHG emissions by roughly 2% by implementing the measures
addressed in Table 7. While the measures outlined above are by no means
exhaustive, this case study shows that reducing greenhouse gas emissions to
levels that will avert the worst impacts of climate change will require innovative
red
solutions beyond what local governments can realistically provide for their
me
communities.
Pro
put
recc
WeI
TUJ
gre
an<
the
an,
chi
Gl
ad"
92
Chapter 7. Future & Recommendations for the City of Tumwater
As of December 18, 2007, the City of Tumw ater had the first provisions of
its Climate Protection Program in place. Funding had been secured to hire a
resource conservation manager to monitor resource usage at the city, and $25,000
was included in the 2008-2013 Capital Facilities Plan to be used for technological
improvements that will help the city reduce its energy usage and take steps toward
reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Because many of the GHG reduction
measures were not adopted as of that date, Tumwater's Climate Protection
Program could feasibly produce even more results in the future if provisions are
put in place to ensure that the program is continued in later years. Several
recommendations for the advancement of Tumwater's climate protection goals
were made throughout the process of developing measures for greenhouse gas
reduction and working with the city's government.
During preliminary City Council considerations, it was decided that
Tumwater's climate protection efforts should first focus on addressing municipal
greenhouse gas emissions in order to gain perspective on the scope of the work
and provide the greater community with an example to follow. In future years,
the city should complete the entire community analysis utilizing ICLEI software
and support from staff within that organization. This work could be completed by
the resource conservation manager, city staff, or another intern of the city's
choosing. Helping bring the community on board and finding ways to reduce
GHG emissions associated with Tumwater's 16,000 residents would also greatly
advance the city's climate protection efforts. Municipal governmental operations
93
typically constitute 2-5% of the emissions of the overall community (Amy
Shatzkin, personal communication).
In order to sustain the momentum that Tumwater's Climate Protection
Program has generated thus far, some type of oversight should be adopted by the
city. Because the program began under Tumwater's General Government
Committee, one option would be to have the Committee hold continuing
discussions about the program and how to advance greenhouse gas solutions.
Another method would be to convene a special panel consisting of city staff, who
are familiar with the city's operations and may be able to craft strategies and
. measures to help the city further reduce its GHG emissions. A third option would
be to have this duty fall under the resource conservation manager position.
Whatever form the oversight takes, it would be important for the
participant(s) to keep abreast of developments in clean energy, energy efficiency
and conservation strategies, and current climate policy. Oversight could also
ensure that other "unofficial" recommendations are carried out, such as
inventorying Tumwater's water and sewage equipment during the next five-year
water systems audit. Another responsibility could be to compile records of city
energy usage, in order to assist in future greenhouse gas emissions audits. As
mentioned previously, city and public utility records were found to be unreliable
to construct a 1990 baseline for emissions audits.
The City of Tumwater's Capital Facilities Plan is reviewed every year, and
this provides ample opportunity for the city to implement climate protection
measures in future years. The Climate Protection Program proposal included in
94
the 2008-2013 CFP included a potential timeline for the imp lementation of
various measures (Table 9). In order for the city to continue the pro gress it has
already made in climate protection, it is critical that these and/or other greenhouse
gas reduction strategies be included in future CFPs.
Finally, it is important that the city continue to entertain the option of
participating in Puget Sound Energy's Green Power Program or a similar
initiative. During the November 6,2007 City Council meeting, Councilmember
Bruce Zeller suggested that the city revisit the notion of green tags in 2009. By
that time, approximately two more years of energy usage data will be available
above what was used in the 2006 energy audit. If measures adopted in 2008 help
reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it may be possible that the city will not need to
purchase as many green tags as previously described. During the course of
quantifying measures that Tumwater could adopt to reduce its GHG emissions,
green tags and carbon offsets were never considered a permanent solution to the
climate change problem-rather, it was recognized that they may provide the only
means of meeting the city's GHG reduction goals, as the sum of all other
measures examined did not bring the city to its stated goals.
95
Conclusion
The far-reaching impacts associated with climate change warrant
significant global attention. The consequences of inaction are dire, ranging from
declines in global water and food supplies to increases in violent weather events
and sea level rise, all of which place both human and natural systems in jeopardy.
The concentrations of greenhouse gas emissions already in the atmosphere have
accelerated increases in temperature that will impact the planet, and the severity
of these impacts in future years and decades will largely depend on which of the
forecasted emissions scenarios becomes reality. Significant emissions reductions
are required in the coming decades, and increases in energy usage and global
population further complicate the task of bringing greenhouse gas emissions
under control.
The US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, patterned after the Kyoto
Protocol and developed in the society responsible for the largest share of
anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, provides a basis for future climate
protection planning in a country with a national government that has thus far been
largely unresponsive on the issue of climate change. American participation in
the Agreement suggests that momentum is building behind the concept of
combating climate change, although only time will be able to demonstrate the
efficacy of such measures.
The City of Tumwater, Washington is taking action to reduce its
contribution to global climate change. Though the emissions reductions being
sought by Tumwater, and all the cities and countries particip ating in versions of
96
the Kyoto Protocol, represent only a fraction of the total reductions needed to
thwart the most severe climate impact s of climate change, the city has taken its
first steps toward providing critical leadership in the immense undertaking of
protecting Earth's climate and its inhabitants from what may be the largest threat
in human history.
97
References
American Wind Energy Associ ation. (200 8). U s. Wind Energy Projects.
Retrieved April 30, 200 8, from http://www.awea.orglproj ects/.
Antill a, L. (2005). Climate of skepticism: US newspaper coverage of the scienc e
of climate change. Global Environmental Change, 15, 338-352.
Baumert, K.A. , T. Herzog & 1. Pershing. (2005). Navigating the numbers:
greenhouse gas data and international climate policy. Retrieved October
3, 2007, from http://pdf.wri.orglnavigating_numbers.pdf.
Bernstein, L., 1. Roy, K. C. Delhotal, 1. Harnisch, R. Matsuhashi , L. Price , et al.
(2007) . Industry. Climate Change 2007: Mitigation. Contribution of
Working Group III to the Fourth Asses sment Report ofthe
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 447-496 .
Bindoff, N.L. , 1. Willebrand, V. Artale , A, Caz enave, 1. Gregory, S. Gulev, et al.
(2007). Observations: Oceanic Climate Change and Sea Level. Climate
Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working
Group 1 to the Fourth Assessment Report ofthe Intergo vernmental Panel
on Climate Change, 385-432.
Bonneville Environmental Foundation. (n.d.). Green tags. Retrieved April 28,
2008, from https: //www.greentagsusa.orgiGreenTags/index.cfin.
Bonneville Environmental Foundation. (n.d.). BEF supply resources. Retrieved
April 28, 2008, from http://www.b-e-f.orglrenewables/supply.shtm.
Byrne, 1., K. Hughes, W. Rickerson & L. Kurdgelashvili. (2007). American
policy conflict in the greenhouse: Divergent trends in federal, regional,
state, and local green energy and climate change policy. Energy Policy,
35, 4555-4573.
Chemi, 1.A. & J. Kentish. (2007). Renewable energy policy and electricity
market reforms in China. Energy Policy, 35, 3616-3629.
City of Olympia, WA. (n.d.). Sustainability - reducingfuel emission. Retrieved
September 17,2007, from http ://www.olympiawa.gov/community/sustain
ability/sustainabilityfuelemissons.htm.
City of Olympia, WA Public Works Department. (2007). Fleet Manag ement
Guideline #1: Green Fleets Policy. Retrieved September 17, 2007, from
http://www.olympiawa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/226AB400-C52F-483C-BE5A
7BF433BE7F49/0/Policy_Green_Fleets_2007.pdf.
98
City of Seattle , W A. (n.d.). Seattle Climate Action Now . Retrieved October 3,
2007, from http://www.seattle.gov/html/CITIZEN/climate.htm.
City of Seattle, W A. Office of the Mayor . (n.d.) US Mayors Climate Protection
Agreement. Retrieved September 20,2007, from http://www .seattle.gov
/mayor/climate/.
City of Seattle, WA. Office of Sustainability & Environment. (n.d.). 2007-2008
Seattle Climate Action Plan Progress Report. Retrieved April 27, 2008,
from http://www.seattle.gov/climate/docs/SeaCAP%20Progress%20
Report2007.pdf.
City of Tumwater, WA. City Council Meeting Minutes, 6 November 2007 .
Retrieved February 18,2008, from http. z/www .ci.tumwater.wa.us/
Minutes/Council/CC%20 11-06-2007.pdf.
City of Tumwater, WA . City Council Meeting Minutes, 20 November 2007.
Retrieved February 18,2008, from http.z/www.ci.tumwater.wa.us/
Minutes/Council/CC%2011-20-2007.pdf.
City of Tumwater, WA . City Council Meeting Minutes, 4 December 2007 .
Retrieved February 18,2008, from http.z/www.ci.tumwater.wa.us/
Minutes /Council/CC%20 12-04-2007.pdf
City of Tumwater, WA . City Council Meeting Minutes, 18 December 2007 .
Retrieved February 18,2008, from http.z/www.ci.tumwater.wa.us/
Minutes /Council/CC%20 12-18-2007. pdf.
City of Tumwater, WA. General Government Committee Meeting Minutes, 25
October 2007. Retrieved February 18,2008, from
http://www.ci.tumwateLwa.uslMinutes/GGC/GGC%2010-25-2007.pdf.
City of Tumwater, WA. (n.d.) City ofTumwater - General in/ormation .
Retrieved September 23,2007, from http.z/www.ci.tumwater.wa.us/
City%20Departments/Finance/General%20 Information.pdf.
City of Tumwater, WA. (2005). Tumwater history. Retrieved October 3,2007,
from http://ci.tumwateLwa.uslHistory.htm.
Committee on Surface Temperature Reconstructions for the Last 2,000 Years,
Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, Division of Earth and Life
Studies, National Research Council. (2006) . Sur/ace Temperature
Reconstructions/or the Last 2,000 Years. Washington, D.C.: The
National Academies Press.
99
Confalonieri, U., B. Menne, R. Akhtar, K.L. Ebi, M. Hauengue, R.S. Kovats, et
al. (2007). Human health. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation
and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourt h
Assessment Report ofthe Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
391-431.
Denman, K.L., G. Brasseur, A. Chidthaisong, P. Ciais, P.M. Cox, R.E. Dickinson,
et al. (2007). Couplings Between Changes in the Climate System and
Biogeochemistry. Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis.
Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report ofthe
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 499-587.
Easterling, W.E., P.K. Aggarwal, P. Batima, K.M . Brander, L. Erda, S.M.
Howden, et al. (2007). Food, fibre and forest products. Climate Change
200 7: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working
Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report ofthe Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change, 273-313 .
EnergyStar. (n.d.). Exit signs. Retrieved April 3, 2007, from
http: //www.energystar.gov/index.cfrn?c=exit_signs.pr_exit_signs.
Fargione, J., J. Hill, D. Tilman, S. Polasky, & P. Hawthorne. (2008). Land
clearing and the biofuel carbon debt. Science, 319, 1235-123S.
Fialka, J.J. & K. Kranhold. (2007, September 13). Lights out for old bulbs? The
Wall Street Journal, pp. AS.
Fischlin, A., G.F. Midgley, J.T. Price, R. Leemans, B. Gopal, C. Turley, et al.
(2007). Ecosystems, their properties, goods, and services. Climate
Change 200 7: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of
Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report ofthe
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 211-272.
Fisher, B.S., N. Nakicenovic, K. Alfsen, J. Corfee Morlot, F. de la Chesnaye, J.
Ch . Hourcade. (2007) Issues related to mitigation in the long term
context. Climate Change 2007: Mitigation. Contribution of Working
Group III to the Fourth Assessment Report ofthe Inter-governmental
Panel on Climate Change, 169-250.
Forster, P., V. Ramaswamy, P. Artaxo, T. Berntsen, R. Betts, D.W. Fahey, et al.
(2007). Changes in Atmospheric Constituents and in Radiative Forcing.
Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of
Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report ofthe
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , 129-234.
100
Hegerl, G.C., F. W. Zwiers, P. Braconnot, N.P . Gill ett, Y. Luo, J.A. Marengo
Orsini, et al. (2007). Understanding and Attributing Climate Change.
Climate Change 2007 : The Phys ical Science Basis. Contributi on of
Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 663-745.
Hong, B.D., & E. R. Slatick. (1994). Carbon dioxide emissions factors for coal.
Quarterly Coal Report, January-April 1994. US Energy Information
Administration, 1-8.
International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives. (n.d.). About 1CLEJ.
Retrieved October 3, 2007, from http://www.iclei.org/index.php?id
=global-about-iclei.
International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives. Cities for Climate
Protection Campaign-Milestone Guide.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (n.d.). How the IPCC is organized.
Retrieved June 25,2007, from http://www.ipcc.ch//about/how-the-ipcc-is
organized.htm.
IPCC. (n.d.) . About IPCC. Web URL: http://www.ipcc.ch/about/index.htm.
Jansen, E., 1. Overpeck, K.R . Briffa, 1.-C. Duplessy, F. Joos, V. Masson
Delmotte, et al. (2007). Palaeoclimate. Climate Change 2007: The
Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth
Assessment Report 0/ the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
433-497.
Josberger, E.G., Bidlake, W.R., March, R.S., and Kennedy, B.W. (2006).
Glacier Mass-Balance Fluctuations in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska,
USA. Retrieved April 30, 2008. from http://ak.water.usgs.gov/
glaciology/reports/2006 _igs/index.htm.
Kahn Ribeiro, S., S. Kobayashi, M . Beuthe, J. Gasca, D. Greene, D. S. Lee.
(2007). Transport and its infrastructure. Climate Change 2007:
Mitigation. Contribution 0/ Working Group III to the Fourth Ass essment
Report ofthe Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 323-385.
Klein, RJ.T., S. Huq, F. Denton, T.E. Downing, R.G. Richels, J.B. Robinson, et
al. (2007) . Inter-relationships between adaptation and mitigation.
Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.
Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report ofthe
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 745-777.
101
Kundzewicz, Z.W ., L.J. Mata, N.W. Amell, P. Doll, P. Kabat, B. Jimenez, et al.
(2007). Freshwater resources and their management. Climate Change
2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working
Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report ofthe Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change, 173-210.
Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater, Thurston County Alliance. (n.d.). Budd Inlet
treatment plant. Retrieved April 27, 2008, from
http://www.lottonline.orglplant.htm.
Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater, Thurston County Alliance. (n.d.). Reclaimed water:
A new water resource for our community. Retrieved October 3, 2007,
from http: //www.lottonline.orglrec1aimed.htm.
Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater, Thurston County Alliance. (n.d.). Water
conservation. Retrieved October 14, 2007, from
http://www.lottonline.orglconservation.htm.
Le Treut, H., R. Somerville, U. Cubasch, Y. Ding, C. Mauritzen, A. Mokssit, et
al. (2007). Historical Overview of Climate Change. Climate Change
2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the
Fourth Assessment Report ofthe Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change,93-127.
.
Lemke, P., J. Ren, R.B. Alley, I. Allison, J. Carrasco, G. Flato, et al. (2007).
Observations:Changes in Snow, Ice and Frozen Ground. Climate Change
200 7: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the
Fourth Assessment Report ofthe Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, 337-383.
Levine, M., D. Urge-Vorsatz, K. Blok, L. Geng, D. Harvey, S. Lang, et al.
(2007). Residential and commercial buildings. Climate Change 2007:
Mitigation. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fourth Assessment
Report ofthe Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 387-446.
Lifsher, M. & J. Wilson. (2007, September 13). States gain sway on emissions
curbs. Los Angeles Times. 9/13/2007. Retrieved October 3,2007, from
http://artic1es.latimes.com/2007/sep/13/business/fi-greenhouse 13.
Mathews,1. (2007). Seven steps to curb global warming. Energy Policy, 35,
4247-4259.
McIntyre, S. & R. McKitrick. (2005). Hockey sticks, principal components, and
spurious significance. Geophysical Research Letters, 32, L03710.
102
Meehl , G.A., T.F . Stocker, W.D. Collins, P. Fried lingstein, A.T . Gaye, J.M .
Gregory, et al. (2007) . Global Climate Projections. Climate Change
2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to
the Fourth Assessment Report ofthe Intergove rnmental Panel on Climate
Change, 747-845.
Miles, E.L., D.P. Lettenmaier, D.E. Booth, K. Dyson, A. Hamlet, M. Hershman,
et aI. 2007 . HB i303 interim Report: A comprehensive assessment ofthe
impacts ofclimate change on the State of Washington. Retrieved April 30,
2008, from http://www.ecy.wa.gov/c1imatechange/interimreport.htm.
Moberg, A., D.M. Sonechkin, K. Holmgren, N.M. Datsenko & W. Karlen.
(2005). Highly variable Northern Hemisphere temperatures reconstructed
from low- and high-resolution proxy data. Nature, 433, 613-617.
Mote, P., A. Petersen, S. Reeder, H. Shipman & L. Whitely Binder. (2008). Sea
Level Rise in the Coastal Waters of Washington State. A report by the
University of Washington Climate Impacts Group and the Washington
Department ofEcology. Retrieved April 2, 2008, from
http://www.cses.washington.edu/db/pd£'moteetalslr579.pdf.
Mote, P.W., AX. Snover, L. Whitely Binder, A.F. Hamlet & N.J. Mantua.
(2005). Uncertain Future: Climate Change and its Effects on Puget Sound
- Foundation Document. Report prepared for King County (Washington)
by the Climate Impacts Group (Center for Science in the Earth System,
Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Oce an, University of
Washington, Seattle).
National Association of Clean Air Agencies. (n.d.). About Us. Retrieved
October 3,2007, from http: //4c1eanair.org/about.asp.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (n.d.). CAFE Overview
Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved December 3,2007, from
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/cafe/overview.htm.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory. (n.d.). PV Watts: Changing System
Parameters. Retrieved April 30, 2008, from http: //rredc.nreI.gov/
solar/codes_algs/PVWATTS/system.htmI.
Nicholls, R.J., P.P. Wong, V.R. Burkett, 1.0. Codignotto, 1.E. Hay, R.F. McLean,
et al. (2007). Coastal systems and low-lying areas. Climate Change
2007: Impacts , Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working
Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report ofthe Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change, 315-356.
103
North Cascade Glacier Climate Project. (2008). North Cascade response to
global warming. Retrieved April 30, 2008, from http://www.nichols.edul
departments/glacier/global warming, html.
Pacala, S. & R. Socolow. (2004). Stabilization wedges: solving the climate
problem for the next 50 years with current technologies. Scienc e, 305,
968-972.
'n
Palmer, R.N .. 2007. Final Report of the Climate Change Technical Committee.
A report prepared by the Climate Change Technical Subcommittee of the
Regional Water Supply Planning Process, Seattle, W A.
Patt, A. (2006). Assessing model-based and conflict-based uncertainty. Global
Environmental Change, 17,37-46.
Pew Center on Climate Change. (2008). Economy-wide cap-and-trade proposals
in the Il0 1h Congress . Retrieved April 30,2008, from
http ://pewclimate.org/docUploads/Cap&TradeChart.pdf.
Randall , D.A. , R.A . Wood , S. Bony, R. Colman, T. Fichefet, J. Fyfe, et al.
(2007). Climate Models and Their Evaluation. Climate Change 2007:
The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the
Fourth Assessment Report ofthe Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, 589-662.
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. (n.d.). About RGGI. Retrieved October 3,
2007, from http: //www.rggi.org/about.htm.
u
Running, S.W. (2006). Is global warming causing more, larger wildfires?
Science, 313 ,927-8.
T
Schenk, N.J. & S.M. Lensink. (2007). Communicating uncertainty in the IPCC 's
greenhouse gas emissions scenarios. Climatic Change, 82, 293-308.
Settle, C., J.F. Shogren & S. Kane. (2007). Assessing mitigation-adaptation
scenarios for reducing catastrophic climate risk. Climatic Change, 83,
443-456.
T
Shimada, K., Y. Tanaka, K. Gomi & Y. Matsuoka. (2007). Developing a long
term local society design methodology towards a low-carbon economy: an
application to Shiga Prefecture in Japan. Energy Policy, 35, 4688-4703.
1
Smith, P., D. Martino , Z. Cai, D. Gwary, H. Janzen, P. Kumar, et al. (2007).
Agriculture. Climate Change 2007: Mitigation . Contribution of Working
Group III to the Fourth Assessment Report ofthe Intergovernm ental Panel
on Climate Change, 497-540.
1
104
Solar Energy Industries Association. (2006). US Solar Industry Year in Review.
Retrieved April 30, 2008, from http://www.seia.orglYearj n_Solar_2006
.pdf.
The State and Territorial Air Pollution Program Administrators and the
Association of Local Air Pollution Control Officials. (2003). Clean Air
and Climate Protection Software Users' Guide.
TerraPass, Inc. (n.d.). Projects we support. Retrieved October 29,2007, from
http://www.terrapass.com/projects/.
TerraPass, Inc. (n.d.). TerraPass project portfolio. Retrieved April 28, 2008,
from http://www .terrapass.com/projects/portfolio.html.
Tol, R.S. & G.W. Yohe. (2007). Infinite uncertainty, forgotten feedbacks, and
cost-benefit analysis of climate policy. Climatic Change, 83,429-442.
Torrie Smith Associates. (n.d.) Introduction to Torrie Smith Associates Inc.
Retrieved October 3, 2007, from http://torriesmith.com/.
Trenberth, K.E., P.D. Jones, P. Ambenje, R. Bojariu, D. Easterling, A. Klein
Tank, et al. (2007). Observations: Surface and Atmospheric Climate
Change. Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis . Contribution
of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report ofthe
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 235-336.
Uhl, C. & A. Anderson. (2001). Green destiny: universities leading the way to a
sustainable future. BioScience, 51(1),36-42.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. (n.d.). Essential
Background. Retrieved October 3, 2007, from http://unfccc.intlessential_
background/convention/i tems/262 7.php.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. (n.d.). Kyoto
Protocol. Retrieved October 3,2007, from http://unfccc.intikyoto_
protocol/items/2830.php.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. (n.d.). The
United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali. Retrieved April 30,
2008, from http://unfccc.intimeetings/cop_13/items/4049.php.
The United States Conference of Mayors. (n.d.). Cities That Have Signed On.
Retrieved October 28, 2008 from http://usmayors.org/climateprotection/
climatechange. asp.
105
The United States Conference of M ayors. (n.d.). List ofPartic ipating Mayors.
Retrieved October 28, 200 8 from http://usmayors.org/climateprotectionJ
list. asp .
United States Department of Energy. Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
(2006). Office Buildings Statistics. Retrieved April 3, 2007, from
http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/info/office/index.html.
United States Department of Energy. (n.d .). Coal. Retrieved December 4,2007,
from http ://www.energy.gov/energysources/coa!.htm.
United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2007). Current and Near
Term Greenhouse Gas Reduction Initiatives. Retrieved October 20, 2007,
from http: //www.epa.gov/climatechange/policy/neartermghg
reduction.htrnl.
United States Green Building Council. (2008). LEED Rating Systems. Retrieved
April 30, 200 8, from http: //www.usgbc.orglDisplayPage.aspx?
CMSPageID=222.
United States Senator Arlen Specter for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
News Room. (July 11, 2007). Bingaman, Specter Introduce Low Carbon
Economy Act of2007.
Washington State Department of Ecology. (2006) . Impacts ofClimate Change
on Washington's Economy. Ecology Publication No. 07-01-010.
Retrieved October 3,2007, from http: //www.ecy.wa.gov/biblio/
0701010.htm!.
Washington State Department of Health. Communications Office. (September
13,2006). Pierce County man is state's first confirmed case of West Nile
virus infection. Retrieved April 30, 2008 , from http: //www.doh.wa.gov/
publicat/2006_news/06-143 .htm.
Washington State Governor's Office. Executive Order 07-02 : Washington
Climate Change Challenge. Retrieved October 3,2007, from
http://www.govel11or.wa.gov/execorders/eo_07-02.pdf.
We sterling, A.L., H .G. Hidalgo, D.R. Cayan, & T.W. Swetnam. (2006).
Warming and earlier spring increase Western U.S . forest wildfire activity.
Scienc e, 313, 940-943.
Western Climate Initiative. (2007). Western Climate Initiative Statement 0/
Regional Goal. Retrieved October 3,2007, from httpv/www.western
climateinitiative.org/ew ebeditpro/items/O 104F 13012.pdf.
106
The White House. Office of the Press Secretary. (December 19, 2007). Fact
Sheet: Energy Independence and Security Act of2007. Re trieved April
30,2008, from http: //www.whitehouse.gov/n ews/releases/2 007/
12/20071219-1 .html.
William J . Clinton Foundation. (n.d.). Clinton Climate Initiative. Retrieved
October 3, 2007, from http ://www.clintonfoundation.orglcf-pgm-cci
home.htm.
William J. Clinton Foundation. (November 7, 2007). Press release: Major
partnerships to retrofit public and private buildings nationwide. Retrieved
April 30, 2008 , from http://www.clintonfoundation.orgll10707-nr-cf-cci
pr-wjc-announces-major-partnerships-to-retrofit-public-and-private
buildings-nationwide.htm,
William J. Clinton Foundation. (May 16, 2007). Landmark Program to Reduce
Energy Use in Buildings. Retrieved October 3,2007, from http: //www.
clintonfoundation.orglnews/news-media/051607-nr-cf-fe-cci -extreme
makeover-green-edition.
World Business Council for Sustainable Development. (2004). Mobility 2030:
Meeting the challenges to sustainability, Retrieved October 3,2007, from
http: //www.wbcsd.orgiplugins/DocSearch/details.asp?type=DocDet&Obje
ctId =6094.
107
Appendix I: ICLEI Software Information
Below are excerpts from the Clean Air and Climate Protection Software
manual. This software was used in creating Tumwater's emissions audits and for
quantifying the GHG emissions reduction potential of each strategy that was
identified.
Software Overview
The Clean Air and Climate Protection (CACP) Software calculates the
greenhouse gases and criteria air pollutants produced by energy use and solid
waste disposal, and helps you quantify measures designed to reduce these
emissions. While the software can help you complete an emissions inventory, you
may also enter inventory data from another source directly into the software. For
example, if you have emissions levels from EPA's State Inventory Tool, you may
enter this information in place of using the CACP Software inventory modules
and proceed directly to evaluating emissions reduction measures.
The software takes data you provide on energy use and energy use
reductions and converts it to emissions using specific emission factors
(coefficients) that relate the emissions of a particular pollutant (e.g., carbon
dioxide) to the quantity of the fuel used (e.g., kilograms of coal). For electricity,
the emission factors are based on end-use energy consumption, meaning that
emissions per kilowatt hour (kWh) are based on kWh consumed, not produced.
This way a jurisdiction can account for emissions resulting from its consumption
108
patterns and therefore be in a better position to design effective strategies to alter
or reduce these emissions.
Calculating carbon dioxide (C0 2) emissions is rel atively straightforw ard
as emissions are determined directl y by the amount of fuel or energy used. On the
other hand, emissions of criteria air pollutants are dependent on the technology
being used as well as fuel. Therefore, the software contains thousands of emission
coefficient sets for a range of fuels and technologies, based largely on EPA's AP
42 database.
The greenhouse gases CO 2, nitrous oxide (N20), and methane (CH 4 ) are
aggregated and reported as carbon dioxide equivalents (eC0 2), a commonly used
unit that combines greenhouse gases of differing impact on the earth's climate into
one weighted unit.
Emission Factors /Co efficients
As discussed in the "Software Overview" section (above), the software
uses various emission factors to calculate the greenhouse gas and criteria air
pollutant emissions resulting from electricity usage, fuel consumption, and waste
decomposition. The software contains thousands of emission coefficients for a
range of technologies, regional electricity mixes (see the software's Help files for
information on how these coefficients were derived), and fuels . This menu
pro vides a way to view and modify existing coefficients, as well as providing
options for defining completely new sets of emission factors.
Emission factors can be viewed in terms of a number of different units
(e.g. , tons/Btu, gramslkWh, etc .). To change the units, click on the default units
109
listed in the center left of the emission coefficient window, and select the new
units from the drop down list. You can change any number in the coeffi cient sets
by clicking on that number and overwriting it.
Grid Average and Grid Marginal Electricity
Although there are no emissions associated with electricity at the point of
use, there are significant emissions of CO 2 , NO x, sax, and particulates (PM) at
the fossil fuel (coal , oil, and natural gas) power plants that generate the vast
majority of electricity. The CACP software uses these emission factors to account
for the upstream emissions created by these plants. The United States electricity
grid is not uniform. Some regions produce cleaner electricity than others.
Therefore, the software provides default emission factors for 13 distinct NERC
regions as well as Alaska and Hawaii .
The Average Grid Electricity coefficients are essentially the ratio of total
emissions to total electricity consumption, whereas the Marginal Grid coefficient
sets represent emissions associated with the last kWh generated (or that which is
"on the margin"). Marginal coefficients may be significantly higher than average
grid coefficients because electricity production at the margin tends to be produced
by the dirtiest coal and diesel thermal power plants. These are often the plants
that are taken off line first when demand decreases ....
For both types of electricity, Grid Average and Grid Marginal, the
coefficients change from year to year depending on the relative quantity of fossil
fuel used in electricity generation in a particular year. Grid Average coefficients
change modestly year to year, whereas Grid Marginal coefficients can fluctu ate
110
significantly. The software contains default historical values for of these
coefficient sets, as well as forecasted values to the year 2020. Future emission
factors are based on modeling work done using the National Energy Modeling
System (NEMS).
Transport Average: Average Emission Factors for Vehicle Classes
The software contains emission factors for mobile sources broken down
by 14 fuel types, and a varying number of vehicle types per fuel.... For each
vehicle/fuel combination, the software contains distance-based emis sion factors
and fuel economy associated with each vehicle class (e.g., light truck, auto
compact, transit but, heavy truck , etc).
For each vehicle/fuel combination, the software contains historical and
projected emission factor and fuel efficiency values for the years 1990 to 2020.
This accounts for changes in the average on-road vehicle fleet over time (e.g.,
aging of the fleet , transition to newer models and vehicle types, etc.). There is
only one universal coefficient set, based upon current technology practices, for
some alternative or new fuels (e.g., eNG/auto) for which there are not enough
data available to compute historical or future emissions patterns.
Transport Standards: Emission Factors Based on Actual Emission Standards
Because many transportation-related measures designed to mitigate
greenhouse gas and criteria air pollutant emissions rely on switching to a vehicle
stock with better emission standards, the software contains emission standards for
vehicle classes that conform to the Tierl, TLEY LEY , ULEY, and SULEY
111
standards (the emissions standards are included in Appendix D). Under this tab,
you can modify existing coefficient sets, or add new standards as any other set of
emission factors in the software.
Waste
Greenhouse gas emissions from solid waste management vary greatly
depending on the disposal practices and the type of waste being processed. State
and local governments may deposit waste in landfills, incinerate it, or send part of
it for composting. Therefore, the software incorporates emission factors for seven
common waste management techniques: landfilling, open dumping, incineration,
open burning, composting, reducing, recycling, and waste left uncollected.
From a lifecycle standpoint, waste emissions are more complex than
determining the C02 released by decomposition. For example, if you deposit
waste in an anaerobic landfill, some of the carbon that would naturally decompose
and return to the atmosphere as CO 2 is "sequestered" in the landfill and thus is not
released. Additionally, some of the carbon is converted to and released as
methane (CH 4 ) , a much more potent greenhouse gas. Furthermore, waste
reduction practices such as recycling avoid additional emissions by reducing the
energy required to produce a new product, because the use of recycled materials
reduces the amount of raw material that needs to be processed in the creation of
new products.
112
For each management practice and waste type, the software computes total
emissions based on the following factor s:
• At site methane emissions
• At site carbon sequestration
• Upstream energy
• Upstream forest sequestration
• Upstream non energy
113
Appendix II: More Information on Climate Change Issues
Climate Change Information
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: http://www.ipcc.ch
International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI):
http://www.iclei.org
Washington State Department of Ecology - Climate Change Webpage:
http: //www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange/index.htm
United Nations Environment Programme Webpage:
http ://www.unep.org/Themes/climatechange/
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change:
http://www.unfccc.int
United States Environmental Protection Agency - Climate Change Webpage:
http://www.epa.gov/epahome/learn.htm#climate
Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency and Carbon Offset Information
American Wind Energy Association: http ://www.awea.org/
National Renewable Energy Laboratory: http://www.nrel.gov/
United States EnergyStar Program Webpage: http ://www.energystar.gov
TerraPass, Inc.: http://www.terrapass.com
Initiatives on Climate Change & SustainabiJity
Bonneville Energy Foundation's Green Tag Program:
https://www.greentagsusa.org/GreenTags/index.cfm
http://www .b-e-f.org/renewables/supply.shtm
City of Olympia Sustainability:
http ://www.olympiawa.gov/community/sustainability/
City of Seattle Climate Webpage:
http://www.seattle.gov/html/CITIZEN/climate.htm
City of Seattle Mayor's Office - US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement:
http ://www.seattle.gov/mayor/clim ate
Lace y, Olympia, Tumwater, Thurston County (LOTT) Alliance - Water
Conservation: http://www.lottonline.org/conservati on.htm
Puget Sound Energ y's Energy Efficiency & Renew able Energy Webpage:
http://www.pse.com/energyEnvironment/renewableenergy4/Pages/Default
.aspx
William J. Clinton Foundation: Clinton Climate Initiative Webpage:
http://www.clintonfoundation.org/what-we-do/clinton-climate-initiative
115
