Meeting notes: March 25, 2008

City of Lawrence 
Mayor's Climate Protection Task Force
March 25, 2008 (4:30 PM) Meeting notes

WELCOME - Mayor Sue Hack

INTRODUCTIONS

REVIEW OF RESOLUTION CREATING THE TASK FORCE - Mayor Sue Hack

Mayor Hack reviewed resolution 6752, creating the Climate Protection Task Force, created to develop a climate protection plan in active consultation with the community.  The Climate Protection Plan will

• report greenhouse gas emissions baseline data for city operations and the community;
• recommend greenhouse gas emission reduction goals and target timeframes; and
• recommend strategies to meet the goals while preserving economic development, transportation options, and the ability of responsible producers of energy to provide stable and cost effective energy supply.

Mayor Hack turned the meeting over to Commissioner Dever, who will be serving as the Chairperson of the Mayor's Climate Protection Task Force.

GREENHOUSE BASELINE DATA - Chairperson Michael Dever

Brandon Womack is the engineering intern with the Public Works Department who compiled the data and drafted the Green House Gas Inventory and report.  The report was provided to the committee and is available on the Climate Protection web site at http://www.lawrenceks.org/climate_protection/system/files/ghg_inventory_report.pdf

Some of the questions and discussion points raised during review of the baseline inventory report were:

• § Where does the city of Lawrence stand in relation to other cities who are comparable and who have also collected this data?
• § Information that seemed notable or needed to be highlighted for further discussion:
• o Overall reduction of community-wide greenhouse gases has exceeded 30 percent between 1990 and 2005. One of the most significant contributors to that reduction was the closing of the Farmland plant, which contributed over 1.1 million tons of CO₂ in 1990.
• o In the government module, there is substantial growth in emissions from both natural gas and electricity between 2001 and 2005. Staff noted that several major facilities came on-line during that period (such as the indoor aquatic center, fire station, parking garage, arts center, and so on). Additional information for the committee is requested regarding changes in facilities, staff, and city fleet during the period from 2001 to 2005.
• § Does this task force start consideration at the kilowatt hour or do they go to the deeper issue of how the kilowatt hours are created?
• § Additional information is requested regarding break-down of city energy use, particularly electricity, with the goal of being able to break down the energy used by: (1) Buildings; (2) Water / sewer; (3) Streetlights. The committee would like to be able to target the large energy users when looking for solutions and reduction options.

TASK FORCE STRUCTURE - Chairperson Michael Dever

General discussion of possible structure, sub-committees and so forth.  Some of the major goals noted on the government side were energy efficient policies, green vehicles, and renewable energy policies.  Discussion was open for general goals on the community side.   Some of the questions and discussion points raised during review of the baseline inventory report were:

• § What are the goals of the US Mayor's Agreement? Are there specific targets set by the agreements we have already signed? For example, the US Mayor's Agreement references the Kyoto protocol, targeting a 7% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from a baseline year of 1990 to a target year of 2012.
• § Marketing is the key.
• § Prospering while producing.
• § How are we working in tandem with other community efforts, such as the Grow Green effort currently underway at the Chamber of Commerce.
• § Need to have adequate staff resources to assist groups and task force
• § What goals have comparable communities set for their emissions reductions?
• § How have other communities structured their efforts? The group would like to invite Dennis Murphy from Kansas City, Missouri to a meeting in the near future to hear about the process used by Kansas City and what was successful for them.

General organizational issues were discussed.  The full task force will meet monthly, in general.  Sub-committees will meet more frequently.

Action:  The floor was opened for consideration of a Vice-Chairperson. 

Moved by Mike Dever, second by Jeff Novorr to nominate Carey Maynard-Moody as the Vice-Chair.  Motion passed unanimously.

FUTURE MEETINGS - Chairperson Michael Dever

Future meetings will include conversations or presentations by Dennis Murphy (Kansas City), representative of the Utilities Department (largest single city energy user), and a representative from the Chamber who is working on the Grow Green campaign.

Meeting length will generally be 1 to 1 ½ hours.

E-mails will be coordinated through Cynthia Boecker, Assistant City Manager.

The structure of sub-committees will be determined at the next meeting.

Meetings scheduled: