New York City has set out a plan to quicken its pace of decarbonization in order to meet its emissions reduction target, as the metropolis prepares for a daunting sea level rise due to climate change. The proposals state that New York “must accelerate efforts” to expand renewable energy generation, improve the energy efficiency of buildings, transition to electric vehicles and improve waste management in order to meet its goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050, based on 2005 levels. The city has already lowered its emissions by 12% and is set to almost treble this reduction by 2030, but the road map warns that these efforts are not enough and “we must continue to do more to reduce emissions in New York City and lead progress across the globe if we are all to avoid the worst impacts of climate change”.
Guardian 27th Sept 2016 read more »
Vancouver’s switch to renewable gas fuels province-wide debate. The city says by 2050 all buildings in Vancouver will run on renewable energy. And not everyone is happy about it. The City of Vancouver’s commitment to transition away from fossil-fuel -based natural gas towards renewable energy entirely by 2050 was widely misinterpreted after accusations were made that natural gas would be “banned” and that everyone’s gas-powered appliances would need to be replaced.
CBC 23rd Sept 2016 read more »
Will-power is the key to generating green power, the leader of Plymouth Labour told conference this week, as he set out his vision for a “greener Britain”. Speaking at a fringe rally in Liverpool, councillor Tudor Evans stressed the importance of both political power and the community in tackling the country’s carbon footprint. He pointed to the city’s award winning Plymouth Energy Community coop as an example of the kind of project that councils up and down the country should be pursuing. But he also issued a stark warning about the impact of Brexit on funding for future schemes – dubbing the potential drop-off in funding as “Fexit”.
Plymouth Herald 27th Sept 2016 read more »
Boulder, Colorado, has announced its commitment to completely running on renewable energy by 2030 – making it the 17th US city to make such a pledge. The announcement comes amid a major push toward sustainable energy, as climate change becomes a leading issue in national politics. “Boulder is committed to achieving 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2030 as part of our strategy to achieve 80 per cent greenhouse-gas emission reduction by 2050,” Ms Jones said. “[It] is increasingly clear that Congress is not going to address climate change; cities like Boulder need to take the lead.
Independent 7th Sept 2016 read more »