Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutPACKET Environmental Sustainability Task Force 2021-08-17 August 17, 2021 ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY 2:00p.m. TASK FORCE VIRTUAL REGULARMEETING AGENDA To view or listen to the Study Session by Zoom Meetings ONLINE (Zoom Meetings):https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82491240043 Webinar ID:824 9124 0043 CALL-IN(Telephone Option): 877-853-5257(toll-free) Meeting ID:824 9124 0043 I.Opening Comments/Announcements. II.Establish Recordkeeping. III.Focus Areasand Workgroups. a.Review of Individual Member Priority Areas. b.EstablishFocus Areas. c.EstablishWorking Subgroups. IV.Public Engagement. a.HoldingPublicListening Sessions(when and how). b.ESTF Webpage and Email Address. c.Individual Task Force Member Public Engagement. V.Interim Reports to Town Board. VI.Open Discussion. VII.Adjourn. Environmental Sustainability Task Force Responses to Questions Posed following the ESTF’s Organizational Meeting Question #1: When it comes to issues pertaining to environmental sustainability, what are the priority areas that you think the Town should work to address? Member Keck: 1.Rapid electrification of the Town's entire vehicle fleet and adding vehicle electrification deadlines for the Town's vendors and contractors upon contract renewal. 2.Acceleration of the program to update electric meters to support time-of-day usage rates, net metering and virtual power plants. 3.Removal of the Town ordinance prohibiting residential wind turbines. 4.Establish incentives to promote residential electric vehicle ownership, such as longer free parking times for local EV owners in the Town's parking lots in parking spaces reserved for EVs only. Member Hutchins: 1.Install solar panels on all town buildings, as well as solar canopies over town parking lots and the top level of the parking garage. 2.Replace all town vehicles with electric vehicles; set up more charging stations in town. 3.Set up a community/group buy of rooftop solar panels and electric vehicles for residents and businesses, to piggy-back on the town’s purchase and reduce everyone’s cost. 4.Establish a municipal composting system for food and pet waste (honestly, I think the town should set up curbside garbage disposal, recycling and composting for the entire valley). 5.Set a hefty fee on all single-use plastics (i.e., plastic water bottles, plastic bags, plastic drink cups and lids, plastic straws, plastic cutlery, foam takeout containers, condiment packets), which would defray the cost of a municipal waste collection service. Member Donahue: 1.Increase knowledge of renewable energy alternatives in the public and support use of them in new building as well as encourage upgrading existing buildings/private homes with alternative energy choices. 2.Provide more charging stations for electronic vehicles and create more bike lanes in our roads and more safe bike and pedestrian paths throughout the Valley, as well increase public transit availability. 3.Ban single use plastic bags. This would enable us to comply with the new Colorado State law to ban all single use plastic bags by 2024 and set bag fees to start 2023. 4.Research other mountain communities in Colorado to find out what other communities are doing to address the Climate Change crisis and increase environmental sustainability. Member Fryer: I have two separate lines of thought on what the town should work on. First is the big picture related to climate change, in particular, the PRPA plan for future electrical energy production. The PRPA should be encouraged (as in, meet the previous commitment) to pursue renewable energy replacement of fossil fuels. Also in this category is dealing with the increasing wildfire threat. Can the town do anything? My second line of thought relates to various forms of pollution - air, water, noise, and light. I want to see the environment preserved as much as possible in its natural state - clean air, clean water, low noise level, minimal light pollution. The air quality suffers from high levels of automobile exhaust due to the great volume of tourist traffic. This summer has been noisier than past summers and often the light pollution, even in mid-night, is such that we can't see the Milky Way clearly. Member MacAlpine: Scientists have known for more than 100 years that emissions from burning fossil fuels (e.g., coal, oil, and natural gas) cause global warming. The world warmed slowly at first, with the process accelerating rapidly over time as greenhouse gases increased in Earth’s atmosphere, until we now have a scientifically recognized global climate emergency. Although we can’t stop climate change, recent research indicates that we have a small window of opportunity (a few years) wherein we can limit the destruction by dramatically reducing our burning of fossil fuels and making our municipalities more resilient to climate chaos. Here in Estes Park, we’re fortunate to have a Comprehensive Plan and groups like the Estes Valley Watershed Coalition, Wandering Wildlife, League of Women Voters Community Recycling Committee, Estes Valley Fire Protection District, Sierra Club, EPHS Environmental Club, Rocky Mountain National Park, Parks Advisory Board, Transportation Advisory Board, Bears Are Us, (and many others) that are actively working with recycling/plastics and to mitigate the effects of climate change through watershed management, flood mitigation, forest management, fire mitigation, wildlife advocacy, and cleaner transportation. My primary reasons for submitting a proposal that led to this task force were to deal with important issues not covered by other organizations, like addressing causes of climate change directly and investigating ways to make our energy and economy more resilient to associated chaotic events. There are three areas where I believe the task force should make recommendations to the town: 1.To have any hope of controlling climate change, along with preserving our air and water, we must stop burning fossil fuels as rapidly as possible. The town should consider ways to educate and incentivize the public regarding best environmental sustainability practices. Simple things like using LED light bulbs, closing shades or curtains, and sensible use of heating or cooling systems can make big differences and be beneficial both environmentally and economically. Our greatest energy resource may be the energy we waste because of inefficiency. It has been estimated that 15% to 25% of energy use in existing buildings is needlessly wasted. Simple things like wrapping heating pipes or caulking around windows and doors can make significant improvements. Perhaps the town could incentivize the use of existing programs like "Efficiency Works" in order to realize the benefits. Other states and municipalities are investigating ways to promote or incentivize more sustainable building practices, like going above existing codes to insulate new buildings and making them more energy efficient, orienting new homes and roofs to take advantage of passive solar or photovoltaic opportunities, ensuring new houses are ready for EV charging, aggressively promoting the potential for heat pumps and inductive stove tops, and possibly making houses work together for maximum benefits (like a new experimental community in Basalt). 2.As highlighted in our strategic planning documents (estespark.colorado.gov/strategicplan), our town and region should make the environmental and economic advantages of clean, renewable energy available to everyone.There is a lot of interest and untapped potential for more residential, business, and public solar energy generation and storage. A recent report by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory shows battery costs dropping faster. Also, a revision of the Organic Contract between the Platte River Power Authority and the municipalities it serves allows more flexibility in energy generation or storage and has a provision allowing third-party energy providers to site solar generating capacity on customer property and to sell output to the customer. In that regard, there are highly respected organizations like Sandbox Solar and Solar United Neighbors that work with municipalities in developing solar potential. As examples of how public solar generation could be advantageous, I note that more than 7000 schools across the country are benefitting from reliability and cost savings by hosting solar facilities; and a report in https://www.yahoo.com/news/schools-solar-panel-savings-every-125507252.html illustrates how a school district in Arkansas was able to provide substantial raises to teachers by going solar. 3.Recent power outages, exacerbated by centralized electric grids in California and Texas, have shown the importance of reliability and resilience associated with distributed energy generation and storage. I have been encouraged by citizen participation in Fort Collins and Longmont, as they work toward local energy generation, storage, and efficiency. Also, reports in the Big Pivots e-journal highlight similar achievements by citizens in the mountain towns of Basalt and Gunnison. Furthermore, webinars arranged by the Colorado Resiliency Office discuss how Steamboat Springs and Aspen are taking advantage of opportunities and funding sources to increase solar generation and storage (including local microgrids which can be controlled by utilities as necessary). Our town should make use of clean, distributed energy generation and storage for making Estes Park more sustainable and resilient in the face of climate events like fires and floods. Regarding storage, citizens' groups in Fort Collins have demonstrated the value of residential solar storage, especially when time-of-use rates are in effect. Also, as discussed in https://electrek.co/2021/04/06/tesla-powerwall-power-new-virtual-power-plant-new-york/, coordinated home storage systems can act together as virtual power plants or microgrids during power shortages, or as means for shifting excess solar or wind generation to times when it is needed more, thereby helping both consumers and power providers. Lake Estes, Mary's Lake, Lake Granby, and Grand Lake, along with existing tunnels and turbines, should be investigated for providing emergency energy backup if necessary. In a recent Town Board presentation, a representative for the Western Area Power Administration acknowledged this potential that we have for emergency hydroelectric energy generation. Electric vehicles are another potential "microgrid" which can store excess solar or wind energy generation and feed it back into the grid as needed for emergencies or power shifting. Lastly, I'll stress the importance of keeping social equity in mind during all of our negotiations and recommendations. “Demand response" or beneficial consumer electricity usage habits will soon become the norm, possibly involving non-voluntary "time-of-use" rates for electricity. That is already taking place in Fort Collins, and the initial stages did not go particularly well because some consumers were not properly informed or involved in relevant decision making. Involvement of all citizens in our recommendations will be important. Member Diggs: I believe that this question has two categories of answers.First, we can discuss general “priority issues” or topics. Secondly, we can discuss more specific actions that might be recommended under each of the topics. Given that: a broad outline of Priority issues and their related more specific topics (bullets) could be: I.Climate Susceptibility and Action Plan ·Conduct Greenhouse Gas Inventory (use Larimer County data if possible) ·Set a date for Net Zero greenhouse emissions. ·Assess ground level air pollutants (smog, wildfire, etc.) ·In-depth assessment of Distributed Energy Resources for EP. Especially the next bullet. ·Develop a much more aggressive Solar energy program within the boundaries of EP Power. In conjunction with Platte River Power Authority assess solar production issues specific to Estes Park. These could include load management, solar power production by the Town, encouraging residents to add solar (with incentives), and the development of a community solar (buy in) garden. ·Energy and efficiency. Review and make recommendations on how to increase household energy efficiency. Perhaps, review the Efficiency Works program and how we can make it work better for EP residents. II.Transportation ·Review the Towns Transportation Advisory Board actions related to environmental sustainability issues. Yes, the Town has been pretty active in this, and thus, any Task Force recommendations will likely build on the Transportation Board’s regs. ·Related to above.Review Town’s energy and carbon footprint, especially in terms of vehicle use. Again—I’m aware the Town has already done some of this. · III.Water and Wastewater ·Review stormwater Master Plan and updates in relation to environmental sustainability, pollution, and climate change resiliency. Possibly make recommendations. · IV.Recycling and Waste Reduction ·Review waste reduction efforts by the Town. ·Review recycling efforts. Solicit suggestions from Community Recycling Committee V.Education and Outreach ·Have town develop an “Town of Estes Park Environmental Sustainability Outreach” committee. Made up mostly of volunteers who would provide free advice to homeowners and attend events/festivals with a Town sponsored tent. VI.Imbed Environmental Sustainability, at a greater level, into Town decision- making ·One option would make the Environmental Sustainability Task Force a permanent Committee/Advisory Board. ·Another option would be to add Environmental Sustainability as a another “Key Outcome Area” to the Strategic Plan.Yes, environmental sustainability is addressed in several places in the Town’s Strategic Plan.Adding (or separating out) the topic as a key outcome, however, would highlight the importance of environmental sustainability to Town residents. I’m aware the above is not all-inclusive—but it’s a start. I strongly suggest that one of the first things we do as a Task Force is to review what other communities have done. Jason—your past abode Takoma Park has some good stuff; as does Salisbury, MD. Member Sacarto: The institutional analysis would involve at least the following activities: ·Review of sustainability programs in other communities, including interviews with their local officials and advocates, concerning institutional elements of their programs. ·Interviews with administrators/staff of principal institutions in the Estes Valley. oInstitutions will be prioritized according to their size and roles in the community, based on factors such as size of operating budget and capital budget, number of staff, and prominence in the community. oThe institutions are not limited to departments of Town and County governments, but also include other tax-supported organizations, such as the Library and Visit Estes Park, as well as partner organizations, such as Platte River Power Authority. ·Interviews with local residents who have a history of involvement with sustainability programs that have sought or engaged significant support or involvement of local institutions; for example, Estes Recycles. ·In this effort, I would be happy to be part of a two-member team. In addition to such institutional assessments, the Task Force certainly needs to prioritize specific goals and programs, which will themselves have institutional components. Interrelated areas of particular importance for the Estes Valley include: ·Radical Climate Change oStop use of fossil fuels oReduce other greenhouse gas emissions ·Tourism and its impacts oDisruption of housing and real estate market §Dislocation of livable community §Land neglect by absentee owners oDisplacement of local small business; dominance of external capital investment and business interests oPollution and waste oOveruse of natural environment ·Solid Waste Management oOutsized waste streams related to tourism oSingle-use plastics, non-recyclable packaging oRemoteness from waste processing facilities Member Werner: For me the most crucial thing for us all to tackle is carbon emissions. Given the legacy amount of carbon in the atmosphere as well as current CO2 emissions, and the urgency of drawing down these amounts, which sectors are both critical and feasible for EP to focus on? The energy and transportation sectors are the top two sources of CO2 emissions (EPA: electricity 25%, transport 29%, commercial and residential 13%). So top priorities for the Town would be expanding use of renewable energy to reduce fossil fuel-based electricity, electric vehicle infrastructure (charging stations) and expanding public transit access for work force, residents and visitors. Incentivize biking and walking downtown. Commercial and residential waste disposal here needs a major upgrade and Town attention. We are sending too much of our food waste to the county landfill releasing harmful, global warming methane emissions. We need to better manage plastics. Our recycling rate is very low (7% reported by Waste Management for 2020). Another priority is hiring a Town sustainability coordinator to address these and related issues. Question #2: What priority area(s) are you most interested in working on as a Task Force member? Member Keck: I would like to work in my priority areas of question #2, particularly electrifying the Town's and contractors’ vehicle fleets and with the utilities department establishing time-of-day metering rates. Member Hutchins: 1) Community/group buys on solar panels and electric vehicles; 2) Dealing with food scraps and waste by residents and businesses (pet waste too, if possible). Member Donahue: I would like to work on raising awareness on environmental sustainability to fight Climate Change in our community. Work with our business community to find alternatives to single use bags and prepare for the ban. Work with the town to increase bike/pedestrian paths and find places to add charging stations for electric vehicles. And, to contact other communities to find out what they are doing and invite new ideas and possibilities to our community. Member Fryer: I am most interested in working on the energy production concern, the air quality concern, and anything related to water. Member MacAlpine: I would like to focus on the three areas noted above. Member Diggs: Probably like a lot of the Task Force members I have a preference for climate and solar power related issues. However, I’m kind of a Jack-of-all-trades when comes to environmental topics. I’ve taught several environmental/resource management classes during my career. In addition, I probably guided several hundred environmentally related GIS projects when I was teaching. Everything from climate change, to water resource management, to transportation studies, to air pollution studies. You name it—I have a bit of knowledge on that environmental topic. And, yes, a Jack-of-all-trades can also mean a “master of none”! Thus, you or the Task Force are welcome to ask me to pursue any topic. Member Sacarto: As a member of the Sustainability Task Force, my preferred priorities for my own involvement include: 1) Participate fully in support of the Task Force objectives under the leadership of its chair, Gordon MacAlpine. 2) Contribute to understanding the role of local institutions in promoting sustainability through their mission and values, organization, policies, decision-making processes, programs, and budgeting. Member Werner: I would like to focus on solutions for our recycling and food waste issues. I can also look into funding sources for a range of sustainable initiatives. CONDENSATION OF PREVIOUSLY DISTRIBUTED ESTF INFORMATION POTENTIAL GROUP FOCUS AREAS 1.TRANSPORTATION (Consultation with Transportation Advisory Board and Vanessa Solesbee) Electrification of Town and personal vehicles, and increased charging facilities. Investigate electric vehicles as a potential "microgrid" which can store excess solar or wind. Improve bike and pedestrian options, as well as public transit. 2.DERs (Distributed Energy Resources) Solar generation and storage on residential buildings, town buildings, and parking facilities. Consider generation or storage microgrids for backup or time-shifting; community solar. Investigate hydropower from Lake Estes, Mary's Lake, Lake Granby, and Grand Lake. 3.BUILDINGS (Existing and New) AND ENERGY USE Inform the public regarding best energy sustainability practices. Investigate and improve energy efficiency in existing buildings. Promote more sustainable new buildingpractices. 4.RECYCLING (Consultation with existing groups and with Town Administration) Build on existing recycling programs. Enhance composting programs. Reduce plastic waste. OTHER SUGGESTIONS Smart electric meters and local smart grid system; demand response and time of use rates. Air, water, noise, and light pollution. Reducing wildfire and flood threat. Review of stormwater master plan. Wind energy. PRPA PROPOSED DISCUSSIONS AND COURSES OF ACTION Learn about resilience and sustainability practices in other communities. Consult with local residents or organizations. Create a Climate Action Plan. Create an Environmental Sustainability Advisory Board or Outreach Committee. AddEnvironmental Sustainability as a “Key Outcome Area” to the Town Strategic Plan. Appoint a Town Sustainability Coordinator. By Somini Sengupta Good morning. Human activity has significantly heated the Earth already. But several climate futures are still possible. A burning house in Pefki, Greece. Forest fires have raged as the region suffers a heat wave.Angelos Tzortzinis/Agence France-Presse —Getty Images The future of the planet It’s too late to reverse the damage done to the Earth’s climate. It’s not too late to change course right away to prevent things from getting far worse. That’s the scientific consensus presented this morning to world leadersby the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It’s the most complete synthesis of climate science available, based on a review of thousands of research papers assessing how the combustion of coal, oil and gas has altered the Earth’s climate and with it, human destiny. The report doesn’t present one future foretold, though. Its most important finding is that there are several futures possible. Heat baked in The cumulative emissions of greenhouse gases — led by the U.S. and the countries of Europe since the start of the industrial age, and more recently by China — have not only heated up the planet, but also placed it on course to get much worse in the next 20 years, according to the report. The panel concludes that the average global temperature is very likely to rise 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, above preindustrial levels by 2040, and to continue to warm for another 10 years. At that threshold, nearly 1 billion people could face life-threatening heat waves at least once every five years, the report finds. We will confront more record-breaking heat (as in the Pacific Northwest in July and southern Europe last week); more frequent floods (as in India, Germany, and China); more frequent droughts (as in the U.S. West); and rising sea levels that will threaten coastal cities (as in Miami). Those changes are baked in, and it’s imperative to prepare. But it is still possible to limit further warming by midcentury and prevent far worse consequences, the report says. At 2 degrees Celsius of warming, the picture gets worse, with more frequent bursts of heat spikes. At 4 degrees, the world is unrecognizable. The report’s authors show each scenario as if holding up a set of binoculars to see the road ahead, and the paths that branch off. Solar panels near Mojave, Calif.Patrick T. Fallon/AgenceFrance-Presse —Getty Images Which way to go? It’s up to the leaders of the world’s most powerful nations and companies to determine which path to take. Limiting temperature rise requires big structural changes to the way the world produces electricity, heats buildings, moves around and produces food. So the choice before those leaders boils down to this: They could pursue policies that inject more planet-warming gases into the atmosphere and warm the planet further. Or they could replace fossil fuels with clean energy and stop mowing down forests. Technologically that’s all feasible, but it hasn’t happened — not nearly fast enough — which is why we are in this predicament. The U.S. has promised to reduce its emissions by around 40 percent by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. The European Union and Britain have more ambitious targets for emission reductions. And, unlike the U.S., the European countries have enshrined those commitments into law. China, which today accounts for roughly 30 percent of global greenhouse gases, has said only that its emissions will reach a peak before 2030. India, which accounts for around 6 percent today, has said it would sharply increase renewable energy sources but nothing about when its emissions would start declining. This report is hardly the first such detailed assessment of climate risks. Scientists have repeatedly offered these binoculars, and many politicians have repeatedly ignored them. The question now is whether citizens, having seen the risks close up, will force their leaders to act. “For far too long, policymakers have placed their short-term political interests and the greed of corporations ahead of the needs of their constituents,” Rachel Cleetus, climate policy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said. You can read more about the report here. Somini Sengupta is an international climate reporter for The Times.