University City Greenhouse Gas Inventory

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Solid Waste Facilities 40 1 0400.5 1653,107 Vehicle Fleet 943 28 2395212.7 21,077382,209 Employee Commute 1,103 66 551,12415 15,506275,054 Other Process Fugitive 0 0 000 00 Mobile Source Refrigerants 0 0 0400.5 00 Total 7,386 174 1877,484100 66,8731,523,213 As shown in Figure 2 and Table 2 (above), the largest emitting sector within University City’s municipal operations were the city owned buildings and facilities, accounting for approximately 40.5 percent of the total government operations in 2005. Emissions from these buildings and facilities result from the consumption of electricity and natural gas. The city’s streetlights, traffic signals, and other outdoor lighting accounted for approximately 30.7 percent of the government’s emissions. The city’s streetlights, traffic signals, and other outdoor lighting sector was the most expensive sector by a significant margin. Climate Change Backgroundiv The warmth of the earth is a natural phenomenon of our planet. Global warming is caused by large amounts of greenhouse gases made up of carbon dioxide and methane being trapped in the earth’s atmosphere. Emissions from carbon dioxide are produced whenever fossil fuels are burned (oil, natural gas, gasoline, diesel fuel and coal). As result of even a slight increase of global temperature, major changes in climate patterns have been emerging, including extreme weather events (such as Hurricane Ike and other major flood inducing storm activity). Methane (or CH4) is a byproduct of organic waste and sewage decomposition. Organic waste is made up of paper, yard trimmings, wood and food waste as it decomposes in landfills. Sewer treatment plants are a significant source of methane, which is 21 times more powerful per unit than CO2 in its greenhouse effect. 2010-2011 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, City of University City, MO 9 There is scientific evidence that human activity during the 20th and 21st centuries has caused the earth to warm at an alarmingly accelerated pace that threatens our very existence. Overwhelming scientific evidence shows that the manner in which human society is currently living is unsustainable. We are significantly changing our climate; we are exacerbating many human and environmental health issues; we are rapidly depleting non-renewable resources; we are driving species to extinction; and we are jeopardizing the planet for future generations. In 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.