Air Pollution

1
Air Pollution Greenhouse GasesWhat Local
Governments Institutions Can Do

• Cindy Kemper, Director
• Johnson County Environmental Department
• Kansas Air Quality Conference
• March 2008

2
What We Will Cover

• Why should we care?
• Why are local governments institutions key
  players?
• What organizational approaches strategies work?
• What actions can make a difference?
• Short-term
• Long-term
• What challenges must we overcome?
• Are we making a difference?

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Why should we care?
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Why should we care?

• Air pollution GHG emissions affect human health
  and quality of life
• In neighborhoods
• In cities regions
• Across multiple states
• Globally
• Air pollution GHG emissions affect economic
  development
• We are collectively responsible to future
  generations Sustainability

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Sustainability

• In our every deliberation we must consider the
  impact of our decisions on the next seven
  generations.
• - From Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy

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Why should we care?

• Criteria air pollutants
• Ozone, PM2.5 are most common concern in KS
• Ozone standard likely to be lowered affecting
  more KS cities triggering new emission control
  requirements
• PM2.5 can pose localized health risks
  contributes to regional haze
• Large contributions by small unregulated sources

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Why should we care?

• GHG emissions from man-made sources are affecting
  climate are largely unregulated
• Climate affects all living systems
• Rapid significant mitigation actions are needed
• Reducing GHG emissions is not about saving the
  earth. Its about saving the human race.

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Why should we care?

• Public demands it
• We are part of a perfect storm
• If we fail to act, we have not done our jobs

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We are in good company
Kansas City, Missouri
More than 700 mayors from the 50 states, the
District of Columbia and Puerto Rico,
representing a total population of over
75,000,000 citizens have signed the U.S.
Conference of Mayors Agreement.
Prairie Village
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We are in good company

• This makes good
• business sense

11
Why are local governments institutions key
players?
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Why are local governments institutions key
players?

• We are large employers with significant
  environmental footprints
• We can lead communities by example
• We are accountable to the public (citizens,
  businesses), so the public expects us to act
  responsibly
• We touch everyone in the community (sphere of
  influence)
• We exercise considerable influence authority
  over the public (regulations, taxes, services)
• Our employees are regular citizens after hours
  actions at work translate to changes at home

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What organizational approaches strategies work?
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What organizational approaches strategies work?

• Get your own house in order first
• Secure buy-in from the top
• Identify your champions build a team. If
  possible, hire a Sustainability Coordinator
• Identify your major air pollution GHG emission
  sources (buildings, vehicles, equipment, etc.)
• Identify your major processes that affect
  emissions elsewhere (procurement, communications,
  energy use, etc.)
• Develop emissions inventory baselines (Climate
  Registry ICLEI)
• Establish emission reduction plans with goals and
  timeframes, then track report back
• Goals can be big, hairy audacious, but
  actions to get there must be targeted
  manageable (US Conference of Mayors Cool Cities
  Cool Counties)

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What organizational approaches strategies work?
(cont)

• Inventory publicize your current successes
  (everyone is doing something, maybe for other
  reasons)
• Emphasize actions that provide multi-pollutant
  and multi-media benefits
• Consider life-cycle costs benefits of actions
  make the business case
• Promote actions that fit with your organizations
  commitment to environmental sustainability
• Emphasize the benefits that resonate with your
  customers audience (environmental, social or
  economic)
• Consider your institutional political
  environment in deciding how best to promote
  actions (incentives vs. disincentives voluntary
  vs. mandatory)
• Reward recognize staff participation positive
  changes
• Dont forget staff education, training
  outreach. People are much more likely to act if
  they understand why.

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What actions can make a difference?
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What actions can make a difference?

• Short-term Actions
• Low-hanging fruit
• Quick wins
• Build maintain momentum
• Long-term Actions
• Harder take longer to accomplish
• Typically more stakeholders involved
• Tend to represent the root of air pollution
• GHG emission problems
• Dont neglect long-term actions to focus solely
  on short-term gains youll never solve the root
  problems

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What actions can make a difference?

• Many actions that reduce ozone PM2.5 also
  reduce GHG emissions visa-versa
• Many actions that reduce emissions also conserve
  energy save money
• Many actions that protect water quality or reduce
  solid waste also reduce emissions
• Choose actions that have multiple benefits avoid
  actions that shift the problem elsewhere
• Implement actions in a way that minimizes impacts
  to human and financial capital as well as natural
  capital triple bottom line decision-making

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What actions can make a difference?

• Short-term actions for local governments other
  institutions (internal)
• Buy fuel efficient vehicles (hybrids)
  right-size your fleet
• Maintain and operate vehicles properly
• Tires
• Gas caps
• Tune-ups
• Retrofit diesel engines (equipment, trucks,
  buses)
• Institute anti-idling re-fueling policies
• Expand alternative fuels use (E-85, propane,
  biodiesel)
• Incentivize alternative commuting methods
• Install vapor recovery equipment at re-fueling
  stations
• Encourage employees to take actions on high ozone
  days (brown bag lunches, ride the bus,
  telecommute, teleconferences)

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What actions can make a difference? (cont.)

• Short-term actions for local governments other
  institutions (internal)
• Implement low impact landscaping practices
• Purchase use no-leak gas cans
• Market charcoal chimneys to employees
• Convert to green cleaning products
• Replace inefficient lighting fixtures
• Turn off lights, computers, monitors other
  office equipment when not in use
• Purchase copiers printers that duplex and
  institute duplexing policies
• Reuse good on one side paper before recycling
• Provide paper recycling bins at every desk
  down-size trash containers
• Find use recycling outlets for electronic waste

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What actions can make a difference? (cont.)

• Longer-term actions for local governments other
  institutions (internal)
• Develop implement sustainability criteria for
  new renovated buildings (e.g., carbon neutral
  buildings)
• Develop implement plans to achieve zero waste
  in government or institutional operations
• Develop implement Green Procurement policies
  practices
• Integrate sustainability into all internal
  systems including budgeting, strategic planning,
  employee performance, etc.
• Consider investing any cost savings from
  successful actions in new actions revolving
  fund
• Urge state federal governments to adopt
  policies provide resources that support local
  air pollution GHG emission reduction efforts

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Johnson County Governments LEED Gold Building
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Actions that expand your sphere of influence
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What actions can make a difference? (cont.)

• Actions for local governments other
  institutions (external)
• Provide opportunities support for community
  discussions about air pollution climate change
  (libraries, schools, neighborhood groups,
  regional associations, etc)
• Share internal successes failures with
  community partners (public, private, non-profit,
  neighborhood) urge them to take similar actions
  within their own organizations
• Collaborate with your local businesses business
  associations they can be your biggest ally

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What actions can make a difference? (cont.)

• Actions for local governments other
  institutions (external)
• Initiate hard conversations about whether land
  use, economic development transportation
  policies should be re-visited to promote a more
  sustainable community (e.g., urban core
  redevelopment, preservation of green space)
• Consider whether building and site development
  codes should be revised to encourage things like
  energy efficient building design, heat island
  mitigation, mixed use development patterns,
  walkable communities, etc.
• Incorporate sustainability expectations
  criteria into contracts for materials or service

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What challenges must we overcome?
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What challenges must we overcome?

• Making the problem real personal
• Competing priorities limited resources
• Developing tools to make the job easier
• Avoiding duplication of efforts

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Making the problem real personal
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Making the problem real personal

• DID YOU KNOW THAT . . .
• A conventional lawn mower pollutes as much in an
  hour as do 40 cars.
• Lawn and garden equipment users spill an
  estimated 17 million gallons of fuel each year
  when refilling outdoor power equipment (more than
  the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska).
• If your vehicles gas cap is faulty, you may be
  losing as much as 30 gallons of gas a year in
  evaporation.
• A motorcycle emits the same amount of pollution
  in one hour as your car does in 20 hours.
• Keeping your car well tuned, with tires properly
  inflated, with clean air filters, and without
  extra weight, can increase fuel efficiency by
  over 15 (saving ).

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What challenges must we overcome?

• Overcoming inertia resistance to change
• Managing harnessing growing desire to do
  something
• Making a real difference

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Are we making a difference?
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Johnson County Government Accomplishments

• Since 2004, almost 400 tons of air pollution has
  been eliminated due to county employees actions
• Vehicle miles traveled by county employees were
  reduced by about 800,000 since 2004
• The County owns 38 hybrid vehicles, saving at
  least 37,350 in reduced gas consumption
• Vapor recovery equipment installed at
  County-owned refueling stations, reducing VOC
  emissions by 2/3 tons per year
• Idle-free zones established at area schools
• Sponsored change-a-light campaign for employees,
  saving
• 41,700 in electricity costs reducing 278
  tons of GHGs
• Built LEED-Gold office building, reducing energy
• use by more than 43 in the first year

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Johnson County Government Accomplishments (cont)

• Resolution to reduce community-wide GHG emissions
  by 80 by 2050 and carbon-neutral county
  buildings by 2030
• Commitment to zero waste in county government
  operations by 2020
• New county-wide Solid Waste Plan that promotes
  aggressive waste reduction
• Founding member of EPAs Sustainable Skylines,
  CenSARAs Blue Skyways, Americas Green Region
  Strategy, and the Chambers Climate Change
  Partnership
• Other local government institutional partners
• have implemented their own actions
• Much, much more

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Concern for our future
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Hopeless or Hopeful?

• Dire predictions make us feel helpless
• Change happens incrementally but reaches a
  tipping point
• We must motivate people to take personal
  responsibility
• No action is too small
• Everyone can make a difference, often in
  unpredictable or unintended ways

local governments institutions must lead the
way!
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• Sharetheair.com
• Cindy.Kemper_at_jocogov.org
• [phone]