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| Greener pastures
by Missy Votel In an effort to reduce its carbon footprint, La Plata County is retracing its steps. Since last fall, county officials, along with the help of Fort Collins consulting firm the Bendle Group, have been tallying the La Plata County’s overall energy usage and pollution output in an effort to reduce carbon emissions. The so-called Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory is meant to establish a baseline from which to work. “The inventory looks at all sectors of the county, from industry to residential to transportation – basically anything that could ostensibly emit pollutants,” said Interim County Director of Community Development Eric Aune. Although La Plata County has put $27,000 and staff time toward the cause, he said it has been a cooperative effort among the Town of Bayfield, Southern Ute Indian Tribe, City of Durango and Town of Ignacio. “La Plata County is taking the lead, but it’s really a regional effort,” he said. The findings of the inventory will be presented at 6:30 p.m. today, Jan. 31, at Fort Lewis College. The presentation is in conjunction with “Focus the Nation,” a nationwide event dedicated to increasing awareness of global warming. The inventory, which began in October, is required as part of the Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement, which was signed by both the city and county governments last year. By signing into the agreement, municipalities pledge to reduce carbon emissions to standards set forth by the Kyoto Protocol: 7 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2012. “In support of that effort, the county put money away for an emissions inventory and climate action plan,” said Aune. “But we need to first recognize where pollutants are coming from so we can mitigate those numbers.” Nearly complete, Aune said the inventory found the biggest producer of greenhouse emissions to be the oil and gas industry. Although not a complete surprise, he said addressing the problem could be tricky. “We want to work with the industry to reduce emissions,” he said. “The point is to build bridges with this, not to point the finger and say, ‘It’s your fault.’” At least one local energy efficiency expert thinks he may have a workable solution. Dick White, a retired Smith College professor and chair of the Sustainability Alliance of Southwest Colorado, has been involved with the inventory from its inception. However, he said even he was surprised at the “eye-popping” numbers related to oil and gas industry emissions. According to the inventory, there are some 2,900 producing wells in La Plata County comprising approximately 4,000 well pads, which require either diesel or electricity to operate. But White said it would not be entirely implausible to equip the pads with solar panels to run the compressors. It’s particularly intriguing, he said, because the county’s leading gas producers, BP, is also a significant producer of solar panels. “At the very least, BP could get the panels at wholesale prices,” he said. “I don’t think it’s that crazy of an idea and certainly one I’d like to put out in the public arena.” Speaking of the public arena, both Aune and White said the recently formed Four Corners Office of Resource Efficiency, or 4CORE, will be key in helping implement the county’s action plan among residents. “4CORE will play a key role in coming up with more neutral, incentive-based programs,” said Aune. The mission of 4CORE, a broad-based nongovernmental organization, is to encourage integration of energy efficiency and renewable energy into people’s daily lives as well as businesses and institutions. In so doing, the office plans to offer education, literature and workshops, as well as rebate and incentive programs for buying and installing energy efficient systems. The group is also examining the possibility of a local trading exchange for carbon emissions, also known as carbon offsets. The group formed in late 2006 in the wake of an energy summit held at Fort Lewis College and hosted by the City of Durango and La Plata Electric Association. The idea for 4CORE is based on similar concepts in Pitkin and Gunnison counties. Although still in the planning stages, 4CORE has elected a board of directors and expects to hire an executive director in coming months, said White. In the meantime, it has garnered wide support, with the city, La Plata County, BP and LPEA each climbing aboard with $3,000 for the creation of a business plan. “Originally, it was a cooperative, intergovernmental effort with the understanding that public money would be used as start up,” said Aune. “Once it gets off the ground, we expect it to take a leadership role in advocating and advancing energy efficiency.” Another local entity that has taken a leadership role in advancing energy efficiency is the Fort Lewis College Environmental Center. Concurrent with the county effort, the center conducted a greenhouse gas inventory of its own. Environmental Center Director Marcus Renner said the results of the study, which was conducted by a core of seven or eight students making up the college’s Climate Action Team, will be made public Thursday afternoon, also during the “Focus the Nation” event. Although Renner had not had time to completely digest all the data as of Tuesday, he said one thing was immediately known. Using a software spreadsheet program called “Clean Air, Cool Planet,” students were able to come up with the school’s estimated annual carbon emissions baseline: about 15,300 metric tons a year. Like La Plata County and the City of Durango, Fort Lewis College also entered into a pledge, called the “Presidents Climate Commitment,” to reduce carbon emissions. The goal of the pledge is to eventually reach carbon neutrality. However, like the other local entities, the school must first devise an action plan. With the inventory complete, Renner said the next step will be to convene study circles to come up with such a plan. Called “3-2-1 Sustainability,” the effort will entail a cross-section of students and staff working to create goals and a timeline. He said a complete set of recommended actions should be ready for approval by the end of the semester. “Eventually, 10 or 20 years down the road, we’ll be filling out this spreadsheet and at the end of the day, it’ll spit out a zero or even a negative,” he said. “But first, we have to figure out how to get there.” • For more information on Focus the Nation events, go to: http://envcenter.fortlewis.edu.
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The Independent Weekly Line on Durango and Beyond
