American Canyon considering global warming effects

Home » News » Local

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Comment

By KERANA TODOROV
Napa Valley Register

11:30 a.m.How much greenhouse gas does American Canyon’s fleet of city cars produce?

Should the city’s planners be trained to offer advice on sustainability?

Should the city endorse the U.S. Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement, a policy handbook on climate change?

These are the questions the American Canyon City Council grappled with during a recent study session on global warming.

The City Council took on the matter at the same time as the Napa County Transportation and Planning Agency, which American Canyon Mayor Leon Garcia chairs, wants to coordinate countywide efforts to reduce greenhouse gases. The agency hopes each of the five cities in Napa County will adopt the U.S. Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement.

Napa, St. Helena and Yountville have already endorsed the document published by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, an international organization that focuses on sustainability issues.

In American Canyon, the agreement has its skeptics.

During the Sept. 25 study session, City Councilmen Ed West and Don Callison said the language in the mayor’s agreement is too vague and too political.

“It’s presumed science,” said West, who, along with Callison, questioned the scientific link between the emission of greenhouse gases and global climate change.

West said he wanted instead to invest in technology that’s cost-efficient and effective, referring to the environmentally friendly features in the Wal-Mart Supercenter, including skylights that reduce the need for electrical lighting inside the store and sensors that dim the lights when natural light is enough.

“What is the return on the investment (of environmentally friendly features)? asked West.

West said the city should set its own standards instead of buying into a “feel-good” political document.

Garcia and Vice Mayor Joan Bennett said they harbor little doubt that greenhouse gases affect climate change.

“There are a lot of things people can do in the city to save resources,” said Bennett, who noted she sets her house thermostat at 65 degrees Fahrenheit and does not use air conditioning.

During the discussion, Callison said he would prefer a practical approach, including training city planners on how to teach project applicants about so-called “green” building practices. Planners would be certified in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design — or LEED — a program by the U.S. Green Building Council, a nonprofit organization that promotes sustainable building design and construction practices.

Garcia later said he is not sure what the City Council will do next.

American Canyon Interim Planning Director Sandra Cleisz said the city’s planning department will begin evaluating the energy efficiency of proposed projects.

“We’re basically gearing up to meet the state requirements,” Cleisz said, referring to the implementation of AB 32, the bill Gov. Schwarzenegger signed into law a year ago to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

Napa County already evaluates greenhouse gas emissions of proposed large projects, said Hillary Gitelman, head of the Napa County Conservation, Development and Planning Department.

5 comment(s)

Common Sense wrote on Oct 7, 2007 4:23 PM:

" Too bad Al Gore refuses to debate the subject. There are legitimate concerns being raised by respected scientists about his data that he refuses to acknowledge. One has only to compare the United Nations reports with Al Gores data to see that something is very wrong. I fear that science will pay a heavy price when the poor methods of climate science are finally understood by the general populace. "

NapaCitizen wrote on Oct 7, 2007 4:29 PM:

" A day late and more than a dollar short. Nice to thing about something environmental after totally skipping an Environmental Impact Report BEFORE building the WalMart. Good grief! "

Rob C wrote on Oct 8, 2007 11:50 AM:

" How much greenhouse gas can a city council produce? Stay tuned. "

Kevin wrote on Oct 8, 2007 12:12 PM:

" Way to go, Ed West! Finally an elected official with some common sense. Did anyone read the recent study regards the last global warming period of 13,000 years ago? Seems the melting glaciers changed the ocean currents which in turn caused HUGE AMOUNTS OF CO2 to be released in the atmosphere. Naturally, the scientists can't explain why that happened. Bottom line? Global warming causes CO2... "

David Graves wrote on Oct 8, 2007 11:35 PM:

" Mr. West might take note that Wal-Mart is requiring all its suppliers to measure their carbon footprints. Kevin and Common Sense might do us all a favor by citing the sources of their assertions--name of author(s), title, scientific journal it was published in; otherwise it is just...hot air. "

Join the conversation

*Member ID:
*Password:
Remember login? (requires cookies)
	Forgot Your Password?

Create an account

Comment Guidelines

The goal of the story comments section at NapaValleyRegister.com is to have an open, thought-provoking, civil community forum for all issues.

What gets your comment posted?

• Staying on topic

• Keeping your comment to 300 words or less

• Avoiding name-calling

• Addressing your comments to the message rather than the messenger

What gets your comment deleted?

• Personal attacks

• Derogatory remarks

• Name-calling of any sort

• Going off-topic

• Hate speech

• Racially-insensitive comments

• Implying guilt of a subject in a crime story before there is a court verdict

• Posting e-mail addresses

• Posting comments of a commercial nature

• POSTING WITH ALL CAPITAL LETTERS

• Linking multiple comments together with "to be continued..." to get around the 300 word limit.

The fine print

- Comments are either approved or denied. We do not edit comments.

- You are welcome to modify and resubmit a denied comment.

- Comments may take several hours to be posted.

- Comments posted are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of NapaValleyRegister.com, its employees or its parent company.

- Do you have information on a story? Please go to our virtual newsroom to send us a news tip.

- If you feel a posted comment has violated our guidelines, please contact online@napanews.com or add a comment indicating you have an issue and our moderators will review the comment in question.

Search: