Title
Resolution to Adopt City of Ann Arbor Climate Action Plan
Memorandum
Attached for your consideration is a resolution to adopt the Ann Arbor Climate Action Plan. The Plan is a culmination of a two-year effort to first inventory community greenhouse gas emissions and to then develop potential actions to mitigate these emissions.
The City of Ann Arbor has set aggressive renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction targets as part of the 2006 and updated 2011 Energy Challenge. These goals include community-wide targets to reduce municipal greenhouse emissions by 50% and community-wide emissions by 8% from 2000 levels by 2015. Staff continues to seek ways to conserve energy and advance the share of renewable energy generated as a share of municipal operations. However, municipal operations account for less than 2 percent of the annual greenhouse gas emissions contributing to global climate change in Ann Arbor. The City is seeking new ways to address community-wide energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, and the attached Climate Action Plan focuses on ways to proactively reduce our overall impact in the building, transportation, waste, and University sectors. The Plan was developed with the support of a City Council approved grant from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and represents a set of recommendations that have varying degrees of City influence but which act as a launching point to explore and evaluate innovative measures in the short, medium, and long-terms.
The Climate Action Plan brought together a committee consisting of members of the Energy, Environmental, and Planning Commissions as well as other individuals and organizations active on energy and climate in Ann Arbor, including representatives from the University of Michigan, Washtenaw County Public Health, AATA, and other organizations. A community-wide greenhouse gas emissions inventory was performed and recommendations were developed by this committee during the process.
A Climate and Energy Forum was held in March 2012 which allowed for community input from approximately 112 attendees. In addition, six public meetings of the three Commissions were part of the engagement and input process for the Climate Action Plan. The three Commissions support adoption of the Climate Action Plan. Their resolutions are attached and were the basis for the resolution before City Council.
The Plan does not commit the City to expenditures or obligations. All actions would need to be further developed for feasibility and any future investments of City funds exceeding $25,000 would go before City Council for approval prior to initiation.
Staff
Prepared by: Nathan Geisler, Energy Programs Associate
Reviewed by: Craig Hupy, P.E., Public Services Area Administrator
Approved by: Steven D. Powers, City Administrator
Body
Whereas, The City of Ann Arbor has demonstrated a history of leadership in promoting energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy use, including developing its first Energy Plan in 1981 and establishing a City Energy Commission;
Whereas, The City of Ann Arbor has 10 standing City Council approved environmental
goals established on July 16, 2007 in Resolution R-330-7-07 that include "Eliminate net greenhouse gas emissions and other destabilizing climate impacts," and "Use 100% renewable energy";
Whereas, The City of Ann Arbor set updated Energy Challenge goals on April 19, 2011
in Resolution R-11-142 to reduce municipal greenhouse emissions 50% and community-wide emissions 8% from 2000 levels by 2015 as well as increasing renewable energy targets;
Whereas, City Council recently initiated Master Plan adoption of 16 goals on July 2,
2012 in Resolution R-12-300 as part of the Sustainability Framework, which includes
Climate and Energy as one of four primary goal areas to advance local sustainability;
Whereas, Ann Arbor City Council accepted a two-year $50,000.00 dollar Pollution
Prevention grant from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality on September 7, 2010 in Resolution R-10-326 to develop a Climate Action Plan which outlines strategies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions throughout the community to help meet the Energy Challenge and the goals outlined above;
Whereas, The Ann Arbor Energy Commission, through its established bylaws, created a committee consisting of representatives from the Energy, Environmental, and Planning Commissions as well as other individuals representing outside organizations actively involved in climate change issues to help develop this Plan;
Whereas, This special subcommittee worked with staff and consultants to develop short-term, mid-term and long-term targets for greenhouse gas reductions and actions based on dozens of existing climate action plans from other U.S. cities and other emerging ideas;
Whereas, Staff and the subcommittee presented findings and sought input from the public at the Climate and Energy Forum on March 8, 2012 and various public commission meetings since initiating the Plan's development;
Whereas, The societal and economic costs of not acting to mitigate climate change are expected to far exceed timely investments in emissions reduction measures, as documented in the United Kingdom's Stern Report of 2006 and other analyses;
Whereas, The Ann Arbor Climate Action Plan sets mid-range targets that align with the
University of Michigan to reduce community greenhouse emissions 25% by 2025, and an additional target of 90% by 2050 from 2000 levels to meet and surpass reductions necessary to avoid major climatic disruptions as cited by such bodies as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC);
Whereas, The City's Energy Commission, at its October 9, 2012 meeting,
Environmental Commission, at its October 25, 2012 meeting, and Planning Commission at its November 20, 2012 meeting, passed resolutions recommending City Council approval of the Climate Action Plan; and
Whereas, As with all projects requiring significant city investment, relevant components of this Plan would come before City Council for ultimate authorization;
RESOLVED, That City Council adopt the Ann Arbor Climate Action Plan to demonstrate continued leadership and guide progress towards reducing our community's greenhouse gas contributions, and that an implementation strategy be further developed based on Plan recommendations; and
RESOLVED, That the City integrates the best available climate science into all city planning efforts and to recognize actions that mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and are adaptive to climate change make city systems more resilient.