Tag Archives: climate

Mayor Becker Discusses Air Quality, Energy and Water

Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker talks with P3 Utah in a recent podcast.

“Ralph Becker, Mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah, visits with Steve Klass of P3 Utah about his work developing a world class livable city. Mayor Becker explains his accomplishments in terms of focus on air quality, setting net zero energy efficiency standards for buildings and watershed and recreation protection as part of the recently adopted Mountain Accord.

He explains the roles of local government, state and federal government in carrying out sustainability initiatives. He explains the challenges he is leading the City to meet in continuing progress and expresses a desire for greater public engagement. He says that there are trade-offs and learning at a community level necessary to live differently in order to truly make our metropolitan area more sustainable and adapt successfully to climate change. Listen and be inspired!”

Listen to the podcast here.

Trailblazers of Clean Energy Speaker Series

This fall, Utah Clean Energy and the University of Utah’s Sustainability Office are hosting a first-of-its kind lecture series featuring three climate change innovators. Hear these national experts speak about their outside-the-box approaches to combat climate change and shape a positive future for the world.
Race car driver and Sundance film star, Leilani Münter, will kick off the series on September 22nd at the S.J. Quinney College of Law. When you think race car driving, you usually don’t think environmental activist – unless it’s Leilani Münter. Learn how this fearless female NASCAR driver wants to bring 75 million racing fans over to the “green side.” Her motto is “Live is short. Race hard. Live green.”

The award-winning national director of Green For All, Vien Truong, will speak on October 21st. Truong is one of the nation’s foremost experts fighting for climate justice in low-income communities. Hear from Troung on how we can safeguard the most vulnerable from the worst impacts of climate change.

Bestselling author of Green Sense for Your Home and founder of organicARCHITECT, Eric Corey Freed, will speak on November 5th. Freed promotes both an organic and ecological approach to design and is considered a pioneer in the tradition of Organic Architecture.

Sign up for this three part lecture series on innovative solutions to our world’s most pressing challenges. Tickets are $5 per event and free for University of Utah students (registration required).

Solar Farm Tour

Tyler Poulson (pictured) from SLCgreen traveled to Parowan, UT with a busload of other solar enthusiasts to tour Utah’s first utility scale solar project. The tour was hosted by Utah Clean Energy, EDCUtah, and the Utah Governor’s Office of Energy Development.

This project is the first of many large-scale solar installations that will occur in Utah by the end of 2016. Additional details are included below:

• This 340,000 solar panel project is being developed by a Norwegian company (Scatec Solar), but over 80% of the onsite labor to-date and sub-contracted work is from Utah. Part of the land is being leased from an alfalfa farmer who eagerly moved his operations, and water rights, elsewhere in spacious Iron County.

• Scatec Solar has signed a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Rocky Mountain Power (RMP). The contract locks in an electricity price for RMP and its customers.

• This specific solar power plant covers 630 acres. Each row of panels will track the sun east-to-west daily to produce enough electricity for about 60,000 energy-efficient residential customers (assuming use of 3,400 kWh / year). See a panoramic view of the plant. Generating the same amount of electricity with coal over a 25-year time frame (equal to the warranty of the panels), would require about 13,000 pounds of coal per individual panel installed.

• This 104 megawatt (DC) solar project will be fully operational in December 2015, but represents just 10% of the total new utility-scale solar development that will occur in Utah over the next 17 months. An additional 900 MW, over roughly 3,000,000 new solar panels, will be added by third-party companies. All of these arrangements are contracted through PPAs with RMP at Avoided Cost pricing, locking in a fixed rate for energy for decades.

Here is a link to a video about the tour, and more photos are available on Utah Clean Energy’s Facebook page.

Inspiring Outdoor Stewards

Salt Lake City was selected as one of the first 50 cities to participate in a nationwide movement to inspire and encourage young people to experience the outdoors. U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell joined Mayor Ralph Becker, Vice President and General Manager of American Express Salt Lake City Victor Ingalls, and President and CEO of the YMCA of Northern Utah Rich West to announce grants totaling $258,653 to organizations throughout Utah, including the Utah Conservation Corps, Grand Staircase Escalante Partners, River Restoration Adventures for Tomorrow, and American Conservation Experience.

“For the health of our economy and our nation’s public lands, it’s critical that we work now to establish deep, meaningful connections between young people – from every background and every community – and America’s great outdoors.” -Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.

The initiative, funded as part of a $5 million national commitment by the American Express Foundation, will provide two years of funding for the YMCA of Northern Utah to create a community coordinator position to facilitate collaboration, grow resources, and increase participation in outdoor programs on all public lands in Salt Lake City, from local parks to federal lands and waters. The funding will also support efforts to engage young adults and veterans to serve on the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps and engage new volunteers during next year’s National Park Service Centennial.

“When young people are given an opportunity to care for public lands, their experiences often inspire lifetime connections to their backyard parks and beyond,” said Secretary Jewell. “Volunteering opens doors to new and exciting career opportunities that can transform the personal lives of youth while benefiting the communities and special places they work to improve.”

“Salt Lake City is home to one of the most beautiful natural settings in the country and we couldn’t be more thrilled by this news. Our children benefit enormously from spending more time in nature, and this new funding will help us expand our work in Salt Lake City to help increase the amount of time our kids spend outdoors.” – Mayor Ralph Becker.

Victor Ingalls, American Express Vice President and General Manager in Salt Lake City said, “Since our founding more than 160 years ago, American Express has seen how America’s parks and public lands contribute to our sense of national and local identity, and we are proud to lead an effort to mobilize a new generation of volunteers to protect, conserve and revitalize America’s public lands and treasured national parks.”

“Many people in our urban neighborhoods don’t always have the chance to experience all that our public lands in and around the city have to offer,” said Rich West, President and CEO of the YMCA of Northern Utah. “This initiative will help us bring together leaders in conservation, education, recreation and service to provide opportunities to deepen connections to these natural and historic sites, develop important skills, and engage in activities where they can give back and strengthen our community.”

The movement is part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Outside initiative and part an overall strategy by the Obama Administration to connect young people to the outdoors. Other efforts include the President’s recently announced Every Kid in A Park initiative to provide all fourth grade students and their families with free admission to national parks and other public lands and waters for a full year, and the National Park Service’s Find Your Park campaign preparing for next year’s centennial of the National Park System.

For more information about the initiative, visit: www.doi.gov/youth

Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, Press Release, “Interior Department Selects Salt Lake City as Priority City to Connect Youth to the Great Outdoors,” August 6, 2015. http://goo.gl/uxued5

President Announces Clean Power Plan

Today President Obama announced the Clean Power Plan rule. The Clean Power Plan, proposed by Environmental Protection Agency, is a plan to cut carbon emissions from existing power plants. This plan will maintain an affordable, reliable energy system, while cutting pollution and protecting our health and environment. There were previously no national limits on carbon pollution from existing power plants, which account for forty percent of U.S. carbon emissions and are the largest source of carbon pollution in the U.S. These EPA-proposed standards are the first-ever national limits on this type of pollution. Nationwide, the Clean Power Plan will help cut carbon pollution from the power sector by 30 percent below 2005 levels. (1) According to a recent survey by Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, “A large majority of Americans support setting strict emission limits on coal-fired power plants.” (2)

Mayor Becker gave the following remarks:

“I applaud President Obama and the United States Environmental Protection Agency for announcing the Clean Power Plan today. The Plan is a forward-looking and common sense policy to address one of the most critical issues facing local communities: climate change.

Like many other cities across the Nation, Salt Lake City is actively working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions responsible for contributing to climate change. In particular, Salt Lake City continues to be a leader through many initiatives, including increasing energy efficiency of our existing municipal facilities, requiring all new municipal facilities to achieve “net zero” status, and promoting and investing in clean distributed solar energy. These investments not only cut pollution, and save money on our energy bills, but they make Salt Lake City an energy-smart and more livable city.

Over the coming days and weeks, I look forward to learning about the full scope and the long-term benefits that the Clean Power Plan will have on our communities.”

In addition to his work with the City, Mayor Becker is serving as the president of the National League of Cities, which advocates on behalf of over 19,000 member cities, villages, and towns from across the country. Mayor Becker has asked the National League of Cities to act as “an army of advocates” to encourage better climate change policy and work with the administration to assist state, local, and tribal work on this critical issue. #ActOnClimate.

Sources:

Environmental Protection Agency, http://www2.epa.gov/cleanpowerplan, July 31, 2015.
Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, http://environment.yale.edu/poe/v2014/?&est=CO2limits, August 3, 2015.

City Continues Efforts to Reduce Emissions with New Electric Vehicles

With ongoing air quality problems, the City continues efforts to reduce its overall emissions. Seven new, all-electric vehicles are being added to the City’s fleet this year, replacing older, fossil fuel-burning vehicles and helping to achieve aggressive emission reduction goals set by Mayor Becker. Salt Lake City has a total of 224 clean vehicles as part of its fleet, including clean diesel, CNG, all-electric and hybrid-electric options. Since 2009, the percentage of clean fleet vehicles operated by the City has grown from just over 2% to more than 15% of the total fleet. The City has historically focused on integrating hybrid-electric vehicles, with 120 of these in the current fleet, but new all-electric sedans represent an even greater air quality benefit due to zero tailpipe emissions.

“Our program to carefully assess emissions and local air pollutant impacts, as part of the cost-to-own analysis for fleet purchases, is paying dividends,” said Mayor Becker. “We weigh these factors to produce outcomes that mitigate climate and air quality impacts and save taxpayer resources.”

Salt Lake City currently operates public EV charging stations at six separate locations. The City recently received a $200,000 grant from the Utah Division of Air Quality to expand public charging options and will use these funds to install 25 new charging ports throughout the City.

Residents can review, and weigh-in on, the City’s work to reduce its overall carbon footprint via the Sustainable City Dashboard tool, here.

Idle Free City Celebration

An Idle Free City celebration took place at Liberty Park Tuesday morning. This media event included speeches by Mayor Becker, UCAIR Director, Ted Wilson, and Youth City students. High pollution levels are affecting air quality this summer. Join the Clear the Air Challenge, which starts today, and remember, turn your key, be idle free!

The Climate 25–Diverse Voices on Climate Change

By Jessica Oglesby, SLCgreen Intern

In “The Climate 25” The Weather Channel brings together 25 diverse voices and perspectives on climate change. Interviews range from a CEO of a Fortune 100 company to a US Army General to a Syrian refugee. Through these interviews the series explores the interconnections between climate change, security, energy, and peace.

Some may be surprised to encounter so many conservative voices in this series, like Christine Todd Whitman (former New Jersey Governor and EPA administrator), former congressmen Bob Inglis, and President George H.W Bush’s EPA chief, William Reilly, all of whom acknowledge climate change and talk about their own perspectives. Inglis believes that the republican orthodoxy is changing, and that they have got to start looking at market solutions like a carbon tax. Former New Jersey governor Whitman gripes that “the way the republican party is addressing the issue of climate change is both frustrating and puzzling.” She explains that the republican party has a long history of environmental action — like Nixon establishing the EPA — and that conservation is conservative.

National and global security are big topics that many of the 25 speakers touch on, including the four military members that were interviewed. Retired General Charles Jacoby explains that while climate change has become politicized, his years as a soldier have trained him to evaluate situations based on harsh realities, thus he recognizes the threat that climate change poses. He explains the military’s grave concern over the growing impacts of extreme weather, and competition over natural resources, including energy and clean water. For this 4-star general, and distinguished combat veteran, “the issue of climate change is always foremost in our minds.”

Henry Paulson, the former Secretary of Treasury (under Pres.Bush), believes that “climate change poses a massive threat to the world”, and that to do nothing about climate change would be “radical risk taking.” He believes that this is the greatest economic risk the US has ever faced. George Luber of the CDC sees other great risks of climate change when it comes to human health. He says that heat waves kill more people every year than all other extreme weather combined, and climate change has already resulted in more intense and frequent heat waves. Moreover, changes in climate will result in increased spread of diseases like Malaria and Lyme’s disease.

Other prominent voices in the series include: New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, former CIA director James Woolsey, former deputy Undersecretary of Defense Sherri Goodman, Bangladeshi General Major Muniruzzaman, and special advisor to President Obama, Dr.John Holdren. Less prominent, but equally important voices include: community leaders in Uganda and Papua New Guinea, a Global Crop Diversity Trust special advisor, a WWF climate change policy expert, and the CEOs of Energy Innovation and Care USA.

Together the 25 voices form a refreshingly diverse picture of how urgent the issue of climate change is and how wide-reaching its impacts are. What do all 25 of the smartest voices on climate, security, energy and peace have to say about climate change? Watch the rest of this fresh video series to find out!

Top 3 Favorite Interviews:

General Jacoby <<http://weather.climate25.com/project/general-charles-h-jacoby-ret/>>

Heidi Cullen <<http://weather.climate25.com/project/heidi-cullen/>>

Henry Paulson <<http://weather.climate25.com/project/henry-paulson/>>

Watch all of the interviews here!

Mayor Becker Joins Mayors’ National Climate Action Agenda

By SLCgreen Intern Jenny Spaulding

Mayor Becker has joined the Mayors’ National Climate Action Agenda, showing his support for national climate change action. The MNCAA is an organization of mayors that are asking President Obama to “fight for the strongest possible climate agreement” at the UN Climate Conference in Paris in December.

Many initiatives in Salt Lake City reduce local environmental impact, however the Mayor recognizes the importance of federal action. The MNCAA released a letter to the president stating that “The United States can and should be the leader in the transition to a clean energy economy.”

Salt Lake City is now among the twenty-six cities represented by the coalition. Mayor Becker announced that “Salt Lake City is proud to be joining the MNCAA in this important call for action.”

“Your Utah, Your Future” Survey

How do you envision the future of Utah? By 2050, our population will nearly double, and Utah will add an estimated 2.5 million residents. Will we have enough water to drink? Will our air be clean? How will we educate twice as many students? Will our economy remain strong? What kind of future will we leave for our children and grandchildren?

Envision Utah has created a survey called “Your Utah, Your Future” commissioned by Governor Herbert. The survey gives five scenarios for the future of Utah. Each scenario includes 11 topics affected by our population growth. In the survey you select the choices you want to make in each topic area and then choose an overall scenario for Utah in 2050.

The survey will close on May 31, and at over 31,000 recorded responses, it is already the single largest community visioning effort ever undertaken in the US. The goal is 50,000 participants. Take the survey!

Please consider sharing it with your employees and coworkers, family and friends, and encourage them to take it, also.

Additionally, over 300 schools have registered across the state. You can earn money for your local schools- $1 for every response collected!