Portland, Oregon – “ the Kyoto of the Pacific Northwest
When George Bush declared that the United States would be reneging on its commitment to reducing carbon gas emissions and pulling out of the Kyoto protocol agreement, his reasoning was that “Kyoto would have wrecked our economy.– Vera Katz and Tom Potter (no relation to Harry, at least I don't think so) the respective former and current mayors of the city of Portland, Oregon, beg to differ.
In 1993, Portland became the first city to adopt Kyoto-like policies to deal with global warming and they did it four years before the rest of the world. Their recipe? A bit o'this and a bit o'that. According to the Progress Report on the City of Portland and Multnomah County Local Action Plan on Global Warming (and that’s the abbreviated name) there were hundreds of small measures taken, but some of the major successes include:
- The addition of two major light rail lines and the Portland Streetcar and 75% growth in public transit use since 1990.
- The City of Portland's purchase of renewable energy for more than 10% of its electricity use.
- A recycling rate of 54%, among the highest in the nation.
- The construction of nearly 40 high-performance green buildings.
- The planting of over 750,000 trees and shrubs since 1996, improving the quality of local waterways as well as absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
- The weatherization of 10,000 multifamily units and over 800 homes in two years.
- The establishment of the Energy Trust of Oregon and consistent funding for energy-efficiency and renewable energy programs.
These measures and others have dropped the carbon emissions of the city to early 1990s levels and have fallen almost 13% per capita since that time. But how much has the economy suffered as a result? Portland city officials insist the opposite has happened, that these measures have:
brought the city huge benefits: less tax money spent on energy, more convenient transportation, a greener city, and expertise in energy efficiency that is helping local businesses win contracts worldwide. (You can get a more detailed description with this .pdf)
Mayors in 355 cities across the good ol' US of A have signed the U.S. Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement, which mirrors the environmental goals of Portland, Oregon. So while most people tend to think of global warming as a national or global issue (we encourage people to do things individually), it's nice to know that serious progress can be made at the local level too.
Thanks to this Oregonian for the pic
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