Imagine the city of Ames recognizing the threat of global warming
and taking measures to eliminate emissions into the environment before
even the U.S. government and executive administration. Given recent
push by ActivUs, a student organization dedicated to political
awareness and engagement, and recent exploration by the city of Ames,
this ideology may soon be a reality.
ActivUs has been collecting signatures and presenting the facts for
its program "Campus Climate Challenge," a plan to reduce greenhouse
gases, promote energy conservation and educate the public. Ultimately,
the organization strives to advance Ames to the status of being a "Cool
City," meaning a city that has put its commitments to a healthier
environment into action by signing the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection
Agreement, which is essentially the Kyoto Protocol on a local level.
On March 8, the organization passed around a petition to be signed
by supporters at The Boheme, 2900 West St., which sponsors club nights
on Thursdays, and has already received about 400 signatures.
Paul Hinderaker, director of fleet services for the city of Ames, is
steering the Clean Air and Climate Protection initiative, which he said
is still "on the launch pad."
"We just received the software to establish a baseline," Hinderaker
said. "We determine what year and percentage rate of improvement to use
as our goal."
The program is used to determine the amount of emissions the city of
Ames is responsible for by measuring the quantity and class of the
fuels and electricity used by city buildings, the vehicle fleet,
employee commute, streetlights, water/sewage treatment, waste and other
sources. The city can then begin to achieve its reduction goals by
replacing fuel-burning vehicles with hybrid or ethanol vehicles, using
solar or water energy, and by implementing other innovative energy
solutions.
The inventory process, which includes hundreds of fleet vehicles,
hundreds of employees who commute, thousands of streetlights and so on,
is expected to take about a year.
Laura Bosworth, junior in animal ecology and member of ActivUs, said
the organization has been working in an attempt to get the Ames City
Council to enact the local Kyoto Protocol as part of the "Cool Cities"
program.
Bosworth said a few of the energy and emission saving initiatives
ActivUs is challenging the university to explore are "raising awareness
about energy conservation and getting administration to purchase more
energy from alternative resources, [and] getting computer labs to turn
off computers at night."
Hinderaker said the city is hesitant to adopt any program just yet,
as it is still in the process of education and gathering data regarding
the emissions and goals for improvement.
"Anything we can do to improve the environment is good for all of
us," Hinderaker said. "We are fortunate to have cleaner air than other
cities, which kind of puts us in front of the curve."
According to the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that "climate
disruption is a reality and that human activities are largely
responsible for increasing concentrations of global-warming pollution.
The United States, with less than 5 percent of the world's population,
is responsible for producing approximately 25 percent of the world's
global warming pollutants."
Ames Mayor Ann Campbell said she is considering signing on with one
of the programs, but reinforced that Ames has been making constant
strides with environment improvement.
"It is something I am certainly aware of," Campbell said of the U.S.
Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement, which is presently residing on
her desk. "As a council we are still exploring the programs, but making
individual efforts."
Ames has a history of energy innovation as the first city to use
waste as energy, and has done so since 1975. By collecting garbage from
Ames and 13 other communities, the city is able to create electricity
and decrease the use of landfills, Campbell said.
"Currently we are working with Iowa State University and Dr. Robert
Brown [professor of the Center for Sustainable Environmental
Technology] on bioenergy that would make the waste-energy system more
efficient," Campbell said.
Both Campbell and Hinderaker reiterated that the city is making
progress - with waste to energy conversion, purchase of an electric car
and wind energy - and seriously considering a program, but wants to
explore all of its options to avoid setting itself up for unrealistic
goals and expectations.
"We are doing things almost every week for the individual
components, but want to make sure they are doable before moving under a
program," Campbell said.
