As Longmont keeps its eyes focused on its goal of transitioning to 100% renewable energy by 2030, City Council later this month and early next will get an update from its Climate Action Task Force on how it thinks the city can move toward that objective.
The 20-member task force was formed late last year and is slated to present its sustainability plan recommendations to council on June 30 and July 7.
Those recommendations also could work in tandem with the agenda of Colorado Communities for Climate Action (CC4CA), a coalition of 34 local governments seeking to advance state and federal climate policy that Longmont joined last year.
Longmont bases a large part of its regulations on the CC4CA’s agenda, said city sustainability coordinator Lisa Knoblauch. One key to that agenda, as well as Longmont’s actions, is securing accurate environmental data.
“For local communities who are doing greenhouse gas inventories, it’s really important for us to have accurate and timely data, some of which we do get from the state,” Knoblauch said. “That’s something the Colorado Communities for Climate Action was supporting with the senate bill that actually was calling for greater inventory and monitoring from the state level.”
The senate bill Knoblauch referenced is Senate Bill 181 passed last year. The bill gives local governments more authority to regulate oil and gas operations to protect the health, safety and welfare of residents and the environment.
Longmont also has access to local emissions data through a partnership with Boulder A.I.R. LLC to inform its decision making (Data is available here for Longmont Municipal Airport and Union Reservoir).
Another potential policy under consideration at the state level is Regulation 22, on which the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) held a rulemaking hearing on May 21. Regulation 22 would require reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and calls for the phasing out of hydrofluorocarbons in manufacturing and end uses, according to the hearing agenda.
CC4CA has pressed the state commission for updated regulation and Regulation 22 also would be an opportunity for the state to secure more frequent and accurate gas emissions data, Knoblauch said.
“Once we go through that process, we’ll know what our next steps around priorities are,” Knoblauch said. “But I don’t see us necessarily changing anything on a local level based on Regulation 22.”
City Council member Joan Peck said she finds some of the recent monitoring data troublesome. She said she has noticed unusual spikes in greenhouse gases around midnight at the Union Reservoir monitoring station. Although it’s hard to tell the exact cause, the spikes have been seen in northeast Longmont, close to the Weld County line and the neighboring county’s fracking operations.
Among the approaches Peck said she would like the city to explore as it looks to its future is a renewable energy education program that could help Longmont ensure it has a knowledgeable workforce to meet its 2030 goal.
Community effort also is key to keep the ball rolling, Peck said. While council is able to enact enforceable measures to create change, it is people who are at the heart of change, she said..
“I am entirely grateful for the people in our city who are watching closely what's going on and inform me,” Peck said, “and then inform all of us.”
