The Fisk Generating Station in Pilsen is the second biggest greenhouse gas emitter in Chicago, after the Crawford power plant. Photo credit: Flickr User- swanksalot.

Communities in the United States have a useful new data resource to help them with climate and sustainability planning. The U.S. EPA requires facilities emitting over 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually to report emissions, and it has just released 2010 reported data to the public.

The maps and charts at http://epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ghgdata/index.html can help a community identify large sources of emissions in their area. This is especially important in small communities, where a large emitter, such as a power plant or landfill that supplies the region, might make up the majority of the community’s greenhouse gas footprint.

Public access to these data is important for all stakeholders working to improve the sustainability of their communities. CNT plans to make use of these new data in its work supporting sustainable economic development in communities and supports the further public release of place-based data like this by government agencies.

Workshop participants discuss how families can save money by reducing their carbon footprint.

Last week, 11 community leaders who provide financial education and homeowner counseling spent two days in a “train-the-trainer” workshop learning how to incorporate CNT’s Equity Express Green Financial Education into their programs.

Once clients have defined their financial goals and begun to keep track of their expenses, the next step is to determine how they can save money on their limited income. One option is to make smarter consumer choices.

Equity Express is a six-session curriculum that focuses on ways people can save money in the areas of energy, transportation, telecom, and food, which together represent 40 percent of a typical family budget. By making smarter consumer choices, former Equity Express workshop participants have decreased monthly expenses from $20 to $200 per month.

Despite the popular belief that living green is only possible for upper-income households, CNT has consistently found in its research and programs that sustainable practices significantly decrease household expenditures on utility bills, telecommunications services, and transportation costs, to name a few. The money that households save from these practices can enable them to put money toward goals like homeownership and higher education, while simultaneously reducing their  environmental impact.

“Train-the-trainer” workshop participants included staff from Chicago Community Land Trust, Centers for New Horizons, Aunt Martha’s, Trinity United Church of Christ, Bethel New Life Church, and the YWCA. All the participating agencies committed to implementing the Equity Express curriculum in the next six months.

Moving forward, the participants will become part of the Equity Express Chicago Learning Network, a group of organizations that use Equity Express and  support each other as they implement the curriculum.

CNT will hold another training on November 17 and 18. To participate, contact Social Ventures Associate Adam Mays at (773) 269-4019 or amays@cnt.org.

Livability Solutions is now accepting applications for free technical assistance.

Applications are now being accepted from local, regional, state, and tribal governments and community-based organizations for free technical assistance in implementing smart growth initiatives. Up to 12 recipients will receive a two-day workshop with members of Livability Solutions, a partnership among CNT and 10 other organizations, who have expertise in planning projects that protect the environment, improve public health, facilitate job creation and economic opportunity, and improve overall quality of life. The application deadline is November 22, 2011, and grantees will be announced on December 22, 2011.

Please visit Livability Solutions for the complete details.

The Project for Public Spaces, based in New York City, is leading the technical assistance group. Other partners include: Reconnecting America, The Walkable and Livable Communities Institute, National Center for Biking & Walking, the Local Government Commission, The National Charrette Institute, The Congress of New Urbanism, Paul Dreher of the Newport City Renaissance Corporation, Leigh Lane of the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) at NC State University, and the Surface Transportation Policy Project.

Oberlin's enthusiasm for alternative transportation and environmental stewardship have made it a laboratory for big ideas throughout its history. Photo courtesy of Oberlin College Archives

Can a town completely eliminate its greenhouse gases produced by transportation by 2050?  It’s a bold goal and one that CNT is presenting a roadmap for today at the “Northern Ohio’s Clean Energy Future” conference in Oberlin, Ohio. As part of a three person panel on “Community Wide Energy Transformation,” we will recommend actions big and small to bring the town of Oberlin to that zero carbon goal—from a new bike lane to the grocery store to a regional transit system that makes it possible to live in Oberlin without a car. Hosted at Oberlin College, the event will be attended by US Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, Oberlin Distinguished Professor David Orr, and other political and policy leaders across Ohio and the nation.

We generated these big ideas as part of our Energy Efficient Transportation Plan for Northern Ohio that was completed in August. We created a roadmap for Oberlin to achieve a 25 percent reduction in emissions below 2007 by 2015, 75 percent reduction by 2030, and zero emissions by 2050. Transforming Oberlin into a zero carbon transportation community will not happen overnight. It will require thousands of individual decisions by individual actors—decisions to walk to the store instead of driving, to buy an electric car to replace an old gasoline model, to share rides or cars with neighbors, to combine trips to the store and travel less. It will also require significant community leadership to develop the infrastructure and policies necessary to enable households and business to build Oberlin’s economy without relying on fossil fuels. The report recommends 10 policy strategies to work towards those goals.

I-GO is more than a convenient, cost-effective, and fun service for people to use. It is also a transformational idea. Car sharing is a key component in retooling our transportation system into one that de-emphasizes auto ownership and instead uses resources efficiently, saves residents money, and decreases the region’s environmental footprint. I-GO sees itself as an extension of the public transit system, helping people cover the last few miles to their destination.

To join I-GO, visit igocars.org. To stay on top of I-GO’s exciting upcoming projects, like its solar-charged electric vehicles and peer-to-peer car sharing pilot, follow I-GO on Facebook and Twitter and sign-up for the I-GO newsletter.

CNT is helping Oberlin identify local strengths for sustainable transportation, such as its walkable downtown, biodiesel conversion station, and abundance of bicycles. But like many communities, Oberlin’s transit service has been cut in recent years and many residents own a car just to reach jobs and shopping. Earlier this month, CNT interviewed local leaders and community members about ways the town can overcome those challenges as it cuts the carbon impact from residents and workers traveling to, from, and within Oberlin.

CNT will use the lessons learned as it develops an energy efficient transportation plan for the city. The plan is part of a larger award from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop energy efficiency policies in Oberlin that can be replicated in small towns throughout northern Ohio. The plan will include an actionable portfolio of policy strategies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the city and college through reduced car ownership, fewer vehicle miles traveled, and cleaner fuel use. CNT expects to deliver it to leaders in Oberlin at the end of the summer.

The scorecard, released in April, shows that the federal government operations resulted in emissions of 121 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e)—over three times more than the emissions caused by all residents and businesses in Chicago in a year. Of this federal total, 55%— 66 MMTCO2e— is covered by reduction targets under Executive Order 13514, with the remaining (largely defense-related) emissions tracked, but not targeted for mitigation.

Each department has released a scorecard that shows how they are performing relative to sustainability targets relating to greenhouse gas reductions, renewable energy use, reductions in petroleum use, water efficiency, energy efficiency, and green building. Not every agency is meeting its targets, and most are receiving a failing grade in at least one of the seven categories being assessed, but for agencies to be held accountable to specific sustainability targets such as these is a step forward. Links to all agency scorecards can be found through the Council on Environmental Quality.

Local Impacts
The environmental footprint of the federal government expands far beyond Washington, DC. The energy use, water use and emissions being tracked under the sustainability program occur in communities throughout the U.S. One very visible impact is the emissions and energy use associated with federal government employee commuting.

Remarkably, the greenhouse gas footprint of federal employees is 10 MMTCO2e—larger than the greenhouse gas footprint of many communities. This is not to say that federal employees have particularly large commutes, but that the number of employees the federal government has means that it can have great impacts on transportation in the communities it operates in by locating facilities near transit and providing transportation alternatives to employees and visitors to federal facilities.

A recent example of how these sustainability goals have the potential to change federal decision-making has been playing out in Kansas City, where the Environmental Protection Agency is slated to move to a new building away from the central city—likely increasing the transportation footprint of the agency. As Executive Order 13514 is more fully implemented, it should direct federal facility siting to become more sustainable for federal employees and the communities in which they work.

Supply Chain Effects
The federal government is one of the largest purchasers in the world. As the implementation of Executive Order 13514 expands to include reporting of emissions associated with federal government purchases and leased space, the supply-chain effects into the economy will be substantial. As vendors are required to provide emissions information as part of making sales to the federal government, tracking, reporting, and reducing emissions will become more integrated with business practices. Such sustainable purchasing requirements can also go beyond federal purchasing to serve as a model for business or local government procurement policy.

Example of Climate Action Using Existing Tools
The greenhouse gas reduction goals under Executive Order 13514 are a great example of the type of climate action that can be achieved using existing tools even without congressional economy-wide climate regulations. The 2011 update of the Presidential Climate Action Plan, which CNT contributed to, provides suggestions on many more actions that the federal government can take right now—including full-cost accounting policies, climate risk management, and increasing transparency of data to enable targeting of greenhouse gas reductions.

Model for State and Local Government
Executive Order 13514 can serve as a good model for state and local governments to improve the sustainability of their operations. Targeting operations can reduce government expenditures, provide leadership to the private sector, and allow government staff to test sustainability actions in-house before recommending them more widely.

CNT and the North Side Community Federal Credit Union recently sponsored a two-day “train the trainer” program for financial counselors to reduce their clients’ household expenses and environmental impact. As part of CNT’s Equity Express program, the workshop illustrated that economic and environmental sustainability go hand in hand.

“Despite the popular belief that living ‘green’ is only possible for upper-income households, CNT has consistently found in its research and programs that sustainable practices significantly decrease household expenditures on utility bills, transportation costs, and telecommunications services, to name a few,” said Steve Perkins, senior vice president at CNT. “Households can use sustainable practices to help them save towards goals like homeownership and higher education, while also reducing their environmental impacts. Equity Express shows them how.”

The 13 representatives from nine financial education and homeowner counseling organizations that attended the training can now use Equity Express to show their clients—often low- and moderate-income individuals—how making smart decisions about money has positive impacts for them and the earth. Previous Equity Express Workshop participants in the San Francisco Bay Area have decreased expenses from $20 to $200 per month.

Read more in the press release ››
Download an Equity Express fact sheet ››
See photos from the training ››
Read the 2008 policy paper: Sustainable Prosperity: Decreasing Household Expenses and Greenhouse Gas Emissions ››

CNT staff presented our recommendations for the next Mayor of Chicago at the Field Museum.

CNT led a discussion about sustainability and the future of Chicago with Field Museum staff last week. The discussion was part of CNT’s outreach around Investing in a Better Chicago, our 22 policy recommendations for the city’s next mayor and City Council to strengthen the region’s economic and environmental sustainability. The event at the Field Museum is one of the numerous “house parties” CNT is organizing across the city to help make sustainability a key part of Chicago’s historic election.

Vice President of Policy Jacky Grimshaw, CNT Energy’s Rachel Scheu, and Policy Associate Hal Sprague talked about how making improvements and better use of existing infrastructure can lower costs and protect the environment. For instance, when it comes to energy usage, CNT recommends that the city aggressively pursue its goal of making energy efficiency retrofits in 65,000 housing units per year to save people money, reduce pollution, and make existing housing stock more comfortable.

Transportation-wise, investing in our transit system would help people get around with less impact on their pocketbooks and on the environment. And instead of treating water like waste, CNT encourages the city’s next leaders follow its own stormwater management ordinance and retain stormwater on city-owned property with green infrastructure measures like permeable pavement and green rooftops that helps reduce flooding, improves water quality, and beautifies neighborhoods.

CNT’s 22 recommendations are specific to Chicago, but all are common sense policies that any other city could implement as well.

Download “Investing in a Better Chicago” ››