Getting Started
2013
Sub-archives
Beaverton Kicks Off Sustainability Forums, Promotes iPledge
by Don Knapp Apr 30, 2013
The City of Beaverton, OR, is taking a smart approach to community engagement around the creation of its sustainability plan. In March and April, the City held the first two of four sustainability forums that drew over 180 people combined. The forums bring experts to Beaverton to discuss how residents can make positive environmental, economic and social changes, and to educate the community about global, national, regional, and local sustainability issues.
What Can Chinese Cities Teach Us About Sustainability?
by Don Knapp Apr 24, 2013
A view of Shanghai Blogger: Michael Schmitz, ICLEI USA Executive Director This article originally appeared on Environmental Leader, following Michael's April 2013 trip to China with Gov. Brown's trade delegation. Chinese local government leaders expressed strong interest in ICLEI's tools and guidance, and the climate and energy policies of U.S. cities. ICLEI will work to help connect Chinese and U.S. cities to share best practices. Take a tour of China’s fast-growing megacities and you’re likely to come away astonished. Those of us who joined Gov. Edmund G. Brown, Jr.’s historic trade and investment delegation last week were struck by the sheer size and rapid scale of development in dozens of cities, from Beijing and Shanghai to Huangzhou and Guangzhou. But a closer look, past the infamous veil of air pollution, reveals a lesser-known reality with incredible potential: China’s vast efforts to build sustainable, low-carbon cities from the ground up and to massively retrofit existing ones.
San Francisco Named Earth Hour Capital
by Nick Sundt, WWF Mar 25, 2013
In recognition of San Francisco’s comprehensive efforts to promote renewable energy and prepare its residents for extreme weather and other consequences of climate change, an international jury has named the city U.S. Earth Hour Capital for 2013. As part of this honor, the city will receive World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour Climate Leaders Award and $30,000 to support its work engaging San Franciscans around climate impacts on the city’s future.
Broward County Incorporates Climate Change into Plans, Targets 'Adaptation Action Areas'
by Don Knapp Mar 24, 2013
Photo credit: Robert DeMeo via Wikimedia Commons Broward County, FL, is strengthening its commitment to community resilience and climate action, and in the process pioneering innovations in climate adaptation planning. In February 2013, the Broward County Board of County Commissioners adopted a Climate Change Element as part of the County’s Comprehensive Plan, and also updated the County's Land Use Plan with a climate amendment. Mayor Kristin Jacobs noted that “the development of this element has been a two-year effort to address climate mitigation and adaptation in our planning documents. Broward continues to provide leadership in taking steps to recognize the consequences of climate change in our community and to adopt policies to reduce risk and enhance our resilience to sea level rise.” The Climate Element includes a broad range of policies that will protect residents, businesses, and key infrastructure from extreme weather and rising sea levels, and take smart steps to lower energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. One of the most noteworthy is Policy 19.3.13, which states that "Broward County shall by 2017, work with its local municipalities to designate Adaptation Action Areas, per Florida State Law, using a Priority Planning Areas for Sea Level Rise Map (right, click to view larger map) as a basis for identifying areas especially vulnerable to sea level rise, in order to develop policies for adaptation and enhance the funding potential of infrastructure adaptation projects." Broward is the first local government in Florida to amend its comprehensive plan to provide for the Adaptation Action Areas designation. A separate policy in the updated Land Use Plan will "evaluate plan amendments within Priority Planning Areas for Sea Level Rise and strongly discourage those amendments which would place additional residential and non-residential development at risk of flooding from sea level rise."
New TRIG Handbook: Climate Futures Forums
by Meredith Herr, Climate Access Mar 03, 2013
What the National Climate Assessment Means for Local Governments
by Don Knapp Feb 05, 2013
Have you perused the Draft National Climate Assessment (NCA) yet? Consider this 1,000-page report an invaluable resource for your local government -- a gold mine of information and insight. The Assessment can help guide your planning and policy efforts, build the case for action on adaptation and resilience, and even help you create a better sustainability or climate action plan. Submit Comments (deadline April 12)
NREL Report on Distributed Solar Incentive Programs
by Don Knapp Feb 03, 2013
In December NREL released a new report that should be of interest to local governments: Distributed Solar Incentive Programs: Recent Experience and Best Practices for Design and Implementation (pdf). From the Executive Summary:
Community Shared Solar: Diverse Approaches for a Common Goal
by IREC Jan 16, 2013
Community-shared solar makes it easy for individuals and organizations unable to take advantage community shared solar cover of on-site renewable energy generation to benefit from distributed generation. From California to New York, community-shared solar programs are making a strong showing, especially among utilities. And consumers are the beneficiaries, from renters and individuals who live in multi-tenant buildings, to those who don't have adequate or appropriate roof space, and individuals who simply don't want solar panels on their roof.
In Hottest Year on Record, a Wake Up Call for Cities and Counties
by Don Knapp Jan 07, 2013
It’s official: Today NOAA announced that 2012 was the hottest year on record for the continental United States, and the second most extreme year on record in terms of severe weather events. Nearly two dozen U.S. cities broke or tied their maximum temperature records. ICLEI has developed a fact sheet detailing how 20 leading cities and counties have experienced extreme weather in 2012—as well as the past several years—and what actions they are taking to protect their community members, infrastructure, and economic assets. Click to view examples from Norfolk and Broward County to Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and Eugene, OR.
A powerful way to make sense of this historic year and what it means for our nation and our future is to zoom in and examine the impacts of extreme weather at the community level, where we can see first-hand how a warming world is affecting our safety, our health, and our economic well-being. It's also where we find immediate solutions. As Sandy taught us, local governments are the first responders after storms destroy infrastructure—or heat waves roast apartment buildings, or floodwaters inundate main street. And they are responsible not just for emergency response but proactive planning to create more prepared, resilient communities.Fact Sheet on Local Governments, Extreme Weather and Climate Change 2012
Get the Fact Sheet (pdf)
New Year, New Guide to Evaluating Impacts of State and Local Energy Efficiency Programs
by EPA State and Local Climate and Energy Program Jan 03, 2013
The State and Local Energy Efficiency Action Network (SEE Action), an effort facilitated by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has released a new guide to evaluating the impact of energy efficiency programs at the state and local levels. This guide updates the 2007 National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency Model Energy Efficiency Impact Evaluation Guide. The new Energy Efficiency Program Impact Evaluation Guide covers key issues, practices, and steps for calculating energy savings, avoided emissions, and other non-energy impacts of efficiency programs. The primary audiences for this guide are state regulators, public and private energy efficiency portfolio administrators, program implementers, and evaluators looking for guidance on: Download the guide (PDF, 180 pp, 2.8MB). 
