University City Greenhouse Gas Report

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response to this, there has been a global paradigm shift underway for more than a decade to respond to and correct the human course to live sustainably. These issues are the most critical facing humans; they directly challenge survival and life on this planet. While these challenges and many of the solutions are global in nature, our success will start with and rely on collective efforts and successes at local, regional, and national levels. Therefore many communities in the United States are taking responsibility for addressing climate change at a local level. The community of University City has acknowledged the impact of humans on the environment and is striving to live out the motto, Think Globally, Act Locally. v The Cities for Climate Protection Campaign By adopting a resolution committing the city to locally advancing climate protection, University City has joined an international movement of local governments. More than 1000 local governments have joined ICLEI’s Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) campaign. The CCP provides a framework for local communities to identify and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, organized along five milestones: (1)Conduct an inventory of local greenhouse gas emissions; (2)Establish a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target; (3)Develop a climate action plan for achieving the emissions reduction target; (4)Implement the climate action plan; and, (5)Re-inventory emissions to monitor and report on progress. This report marks the completion of the first CCP milestone, and provides a foundation for future work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in University City. vi Sustainability and Climate Change Mitigation in University City A bustling St. Louis County suburb of almost 40,000, U. City is one of the latest examples of a nationwide movement of local governments committing to make environmental issues a priority. In 2005, University City signed the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement. The program was launched to urge mayors to pledge to protect the climate and is currently the only climate protection agreement of its kind among U.S. elected officials. By signing the agreement, mayors pledged to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. University City is one of 19 cities in Missouri that has signed the agreement. University City’s signature demonstrates its commitment to be at the forefront of municipal government green initiatives in code enforcement, recycling and energy saving measures. In addition to its pledge to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by the measure set forth in the U.S. Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement, University City has initiated several green initiatives and best practices University City established a single-stream recycling program which has significantly improved the city’s he program involved the distribution of wheeled, recycling recycling rates since its inception. T containers in which citizens could place all recyclables in one large container and wheel to the curb for collection. Additionally, the City has switched to lower-energy traffic lights and has 2010-2011 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, City of University City, MO 9