CoolConnections» Energy

Local Government Technical Resources

admin — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:33:33 +0000

Local governments play a critical role in helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions — below are a few resources to support cities and counties with limited staff and fiscal capacity to initiate Climate Action Plans.

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Statewide Energy Efficiency Collaborative (SEEC)

T he Statewide Energy Efficiency Collaborative is a new alliance to help cities and counties reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save energy. SEEC is a collaboration between three statewide non-profit organizations and California’s four Investor Owned Utilities.

SEEC Members:

SEEC provides education and tools for climate action planning, venues for peer-to-peer networking, technical assistance and recognition for local agencies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy use. The collaborative effort is designed to build upon the unique resources, expertise and local agency relationships of each non-profit organization, as well as those of the four investor owned utilities.

Cool Planet Project

The Climate Registry administers an energy efficiency and climate change mitigation program called the Cool Planet Project with electric and gas utilities throughout North America. The Cool Planet Project is funded by Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric provides the following non-fiscal resources (on-going program) for “utility customers” (e.g. local governments) FOR FREE for the first year of participation:

One year membership in California Climate Registry (for GHG inventory)
Third party verification of GHG inventory
Public relations services provided to communicate environmental leadership to the public
Strengthens an organization’s voice among industry peers and national policy makers

Cool California

Cool California is a partnership of the State of California Air Resources Board, Energy Commission, Public Utilities, and University at Berkeley. Its mission is to provide all Californians with the tools they need to take action to protect the climate and keep California cool. The partnership has developed a Local Government Toolkit to identify cost saving actions, financial resources, and case studies to assist local governments with achieving GHG emission reductions. Cool California provides resources to local government to establish baseline GHG emission inventories and guide the development of a Climate Action Plan.

Ron Milam Participates in Greenhouse Gas Emissions – Climate Change Law and Initiatives Conference in Sacramento

admin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:22:24 +0000

Climate change laws and regulations in California are altering traditional transportation planning practices in California. Ron Milam of Fehr & Peers has been tracking these changes and has developed a new paradigm for transportation planning in California that responds to climate change regulation. Ron will be sharing some of his latest work at the December 7-8, 2009 CLE Greenhouse Gas Emissions Conference on Climate Change Law and Initiatives.

Click here for more information.

Interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities to Help Improve Access to Affordable Housing Announced

admin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:18:40 +0000

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson today announced an interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities to help improve access to affordable housing, more transportation options, and lower transportation costs while protecting the environment in communities nationwide.

Click here to view the press release.

This new initiative begs for “sustainable transportation” indicators, with “sustainability” meaning not just consideration of the transport systems themselves but also consideration for the sustainability of their contextual environments. This requires an integrated systems analysis approach and understanding how systems interact.

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program

admin — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:46:31 +0000

As a part of the The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, funds have been allocated to the Department of Energy for local governments in the form of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program. The purpose of these funds is to stimulate the economy, create jobs and meet these environmental goals:

Reduce fossil fuel emissions in a manner that is environmentally sustainable
Reduce the total energy use of the eligible entities; and
Improve energy efficiency in the building sector, the transportation sector, and other sectors.

The EECBG provides local governments with an unprecedented and potentially unique opportunity to access federal funds to promote sustainability, conserve energy and address climate change. Key priorities of the EECBG include:

Linking energy efficiency efforts to long-term priorities (especially community economic development, community stabilization and poverty reduction efforts).
Targeting programs and projects that will provide substantial, sustainable and measurable energy savings, job creation and economic stimulus effects.
To the extent possible, develop programs and strategies that will continue beyond the funding period.
Develop comprehensive plans that benchmark current performance, set aggressive goals, and monitor and measure results over time.

EECBG funding can be used for a wide-range of projects, such as:

Planning efforts including General Plan Updates, Climate Action Plans, Travel Demand Model Enhancements to support VMT forecasting, and development of green zoning, building codes and ordinances
Program development such as incentive programs for energy retrofits, local engaged carbon offset programs, Energy Management Programs, or transportation demand management programs
Sustainable Facilities Management processes for government buildings, including energy audits, retro-commissioning and upgrades, recycling programs and purchasing policies
Installation of energy efficient equipment and renewable energy systems