Last night I made a presentation to the Northfield Environmental Quality Commission (EQC) in which I encouraged the city of Northfield to join the more than 160 U.S. participants in the international Cities for Climate Protection Campaign (CCPC).

Cities around the country and around the world are taking aggressive action to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases responsible for global climate change, both within city operations and citywide. They are doing so in recognition of the fact that this is both sound environmental policy and sound economic development policy.

After good discussion of issues related to the CCPC, the EQC passed a resolution recommending that the city council endorse participation in this initiative. The issue should be discussed at the November 7 city council meeting.

Background information
The CCPC is is an international initiative sponsored by ICLEI—Local Governments for Sustainability. The CCPC “enlists cities to adopt policies and implement measures to achieve quantifiable reductions in local greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, and enhance urban livability and sustainability.” The CCPC has over 650 international participants (units of local government), including more than 160 U.S. participants. Minnesota participants include Duluth, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Hennepin and Ramsey Counties. While many of the participants are larger urban cities or counties, there are also a number of participating cities roughly Northfield’s size or smaller.

What participation would entail
Participation in the CCPC entails commitment to a five-step (“Milestone”) process:
Milestone 1. Conduct a baseline emissions inventory and forecast.
Milestone 2. Adopt an emissions reduction target for the forecast.
Milestone 3. Develop a Local Action Plan.
Milestone 4. Implement policies and measures.
Milestone 5. Monitor and verify results.

The details of the five milestones are all locally determined, with various sorts of technical and other assistance being provided by ICLEI. ICLEI provides software and other assistance for the initial inventory process, and there is no time limit for completing any of the milestones. RENew Northfield would be an eager partner of the city in working through this five-milestone process, and I am confident many other community partners would participate as well.

ICLEI reports that this need not be a resource-intensive process. Volunteers have been enlisted in many participating communities to conduct the baseline emissions inventory and forecast, for example, minimizing the amount of city staff time required.

Why Northfield should participate
I believe city of Northfield participation in this initiative would be highly beneficial to the community, as it would provide a formal framework for discussion of how to best move the community toward a more secure energy future based on efficient energy use and development of locally owned renewable energy resources. This is an economic security matter for the community at least as much as an environmental imperative. With skyrocketing oil, gasoline, diesel, and natural gas prices, and the likelihood of continuing and increasing price volatility in a world where global oil and natural gas production are likely to peak soon while worldwide demand continues to grow, local residents, businesses and government deserve better than business-as-usual and exposure to risk of severe economic pain. Because of this, I think that participation in the CCPC is a crucial good-government step for the city to take.

I agree wholeheartedly with the statement from the CCPC website that “Communities that participate in the CCPC benefit from the actions that they take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through:
• Financial savings in reduced utility and fuel costs to the local government, households, and businesses.
• Improved local air quality, contributing to the general health and well being of the community.

• Economic development and new local jobs as investments in locally produced energy products and services keep money circulating in the local economy.”