HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 5/11/2021 - Memorandum From Our Climate Future Team Re: April Our Climate Future UpdateEnvironmental Services
222 Laporte Ave
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970-221-6600
fcgov.com
MEMORANDUM
DATE: May 4, 2021
TO: Mayor and City Council
THRU: Darin Atteberry, City Manager
Kyle Stannert, Deputy City Manager
Climate Action Plan (CAP) Executive Team0F
1
FROM: Our Climate Future Team1F
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RE: April Our Climate Future Update
Bottom Line: The purpose of this memo is to provide information to Council about the City and
community’s climate action efforts, including an update on Earth Day 2021, our community’s efforts to
lead at all levels, Our Climate Future implementation, and other highlights from the month of April.
Earth Day 2021 – Second Virtual Earth Day is a Success
As in 2020, Earth Day in 2021 was largely celebrated in a virtual environment. The City sponsored and
participated in the Sustainable Living Association’s virtual Earth Day Event and encouraged community
members to track their actions via the City’s shiftfoco.com platform, with the following results:
Engaged over 365 new households and doubled the number of teams engaged in the challenge
in 2021 resulting in an estimated 200 tons of CO2e being reduced; and
350 new sustainable household actions were completed (e.g., switching out lightbulbs to LEDs,
using more sustainable transportation, or reducing meat consumption).
Climate Leadership at All Levels
In April, Former Mayor Troxell shared Fort Collins’ climate action journey with hundreds of cities via
Climate Mayors, a network of over 470 U.S. Mayors that is committed to taking ambitious climate
action. In addition, Mayor Troxell responded to two climate action requests at the federal level:
Climate Migration: The City was one of 15 signatories in a letter to President Biden to support
equitable and inclusive action on climate migration. This letter is available here:
mayorsmigrationcouncil.org/biden-climate-eo.
21st Century Conservation Corps Act: Mayor Troxell sent a letter to President Biden to express
City’s support for the 21st Century Conservation Corps Act led by Rep. Joe Neguse and Sen.
Ron Wyden. The letter is attached to this memo.
The City continues to advance state-level policy action with 38 other Colorado jurisdictions via Colorado
Communities for Climate Action, or CC4CA. Staff reviews statewide legislation with the Legislative
Review Committee on a monthly basis. More information on CC4CA’s efforts can be found here:
cc4ca.org. Finally, City staff are contributing to a new effort by the Regional Air Quality Commission to
align and support regional and statewide climate action, per Governor Polis’ direction.
1 Jackie Kozak Thiel, Chief Sustainability Officer; Theresa Connor, Interim Utilities Executive Director; Caryn Champine,
Planning, Development, and Transportation (PDT) Director; John Stokes, Interim Community Services Director; Lucinda
Smith, Environmental Services Director
2 The Our Climate Future Team includes staff from across the City. This month’s contributors include Lindsay Ex, Climate
Program Manager; Michelle Finchum, Lead Sustainability Specialist; Kirk Longstein, Utilities Project Manager, Amanda
Mansfield, Transportation Planner; Adelle McDaniel, Sr Sustainability Specialist; Jensen Morgan, Sr Sustainability Specialist;
John Phelan, Energy Services Manager, and Molly Saylor, Sr Sustainability Specialist.
2
Our Climate Future (OCF) Implementation
After Council adoption of Our Climate Future, a combined planning process that updated the City’s
Climate Action Plan, Energy Policy, and Road to Zero Waste Plan, this past March, staff teams have
been designing implementation and plans to re-engage the community, including the following:
Implementation kick-off. OCF teams will kick-off implementation in May with a focus on
designing equitable implementation structures and on advancing the strategies listed in the
2021/22 Tactical Plan.
Re-engaging the community. Once the plan is available in both Spanish and English, OCF
teams will re-engage the community this summer, highlighting Big Moves and ways for the
community to act. For community members ready to get started now, the OCF Action Guide
includes many opportunities for taking action and getting involved.
Tactical Plan May Highlight. Rolling Out the Community Recycling Ordinance (CRO)
o Implementing the Community Recycling Ordinance, adopted by Council in 2016, means
completing the roll out of recycling services to all business and multi-family properties by
June 30, 2021.
o This final step of the CRO will mean all parts of the Fort Collins community have
recycling (with the exception of any variances), a key step toward achieving zero waste
by 2030 and avoiding greenhouse gas emissions in the landfill and in the supply chain.
Accomplishments and Updates
Continued Clean Energy Investments: Platte River Power Authority’s Rawhide Prairie solar
installation began operations on March 31. The project includes 22 megawatts of solar with a 2
megawatt-hour battery. For reference, the Riverside Solar project at the corner of Mulberry and
Riverside is 621 kilowatts, so this project is over 35 times larger as that project and will reduce
our community carbon inventory by approximately 1%.
BizWest panel. Our Climate Future was highlighted at the Net Zero Cities conference presented
by BizWest on April 28th as part of a panel discussion on Racial Justice and Climate Change.
Fort Collins staff represented the City as moderator and panelist, alongside representatives
from Xcel Energy, the Urban Sustainability Directors Network, and Dream Energy LLC, as well
as County Commissioner John Kefalas.
Building Energy and Water Scoring – new transparency map released. Buildings generate
nearly 40% of our community’s annual greenhouse gas emissions, and businesses and
community members are working hard to make their buildings more efficient. Based on the
policy adopted by Council in 2018, a new map has been developed where residents and
businesses can be informed as they make rental, lease or purchase decisions or just to see just
how buildings are performing. Learn more at maps.touchstonebenchmarking.com/fortcollins/.
Fort Collins is 4th best City in the US to own an EV. In a recent publication by 24/7 Wall Street,
Fort Collins was named one of the top cities in the U.S. to own an EV. Learn more at
247wallst.com/special-report/2021/04/13/25-best-cities-in-the-us-to-own-an-electric-car/2/.
Next Steps
Kickoff implementation of Our Climate Future this coming summer with the community, with a
Council Work Session pending for 2021.
Formally release the community carbon inventory and municipal inventory for the City
organization in the fall.
Attachment:
Mayor Troxell’s letter to President Biden regarding the 21st Century Conservation Corps Act
Mayor
City Hall
300 LaPorte Ave.
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.416.2154
970.224.6107 - fax
fcgov.com
April 16, 2021
Joseph R. Biden
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
Thank you for your swift action in addressing the climate crisis during your first weeks in
office and for your championing of the creation of a historic Civilian Climate Corps. I write to
both express gratitude for your work on this critical issue, and to encourage your administration
to keep pursuing these bold ideas by continuing to draw from legislation such as the 21st Century
Conservation Corps Act (H.R. 1162/S. 487).
As county commissioners and mayors from across the state of Colorado, we understand the
pressing need for increased resources to manage our public lands. From addressing deferred
maintenance, to restoring forest health, our communities would benefit greatly from increased
federal investment in our public lands. Throughout 2020, our state has been severely impacted by
not only a devastating pandemic, but also a historic wildfire season. Three of the largest fires in
Colorado history burned in the last year, costing the state over $200 million in suppression costs
alone.
We now have a unique opportunity to not only repair our public health and economy, but to also
restore our environment. Given this opportunity, we were encouraged to see a $10 billion
investment for a Civilian Climate Corps included in the American Jobs Plan. We would like to
express our sincere gratitude and share our enthusiastic support for establishing a Civilian
Climate Corps to address the many natural resources management needs of our communities.
By way of example, the 21stCentury Conservation Corps Act,led by Rep. Joe Neguse and Sen.
Ron Wyden, aims to address a variety of challenges facing our communities by investing in
workforce training and jobs to support conservation programs and reforestation to restore our
public lands; addressing deferred maintenance and expanding recreation access on our public
lands; improving access to clean drinking water; and mitigating the risk of catastrophic
wildfires. Our communities would greatly benefit from these investments and we support their
inclusion in the creation of the Civilian Climate Corps, as proposed by your administration.
Given the historic need for address wildfire resilience, mitigation and public lands
restoration, legislation such as the 21st Century Conservation Corps Act will not only take steps
to address the climate crisis and improve environmental resiliency, but also put Americans back
to work.
We look forward to joining you in putting a new generation of Americans to work conserving
our public lands and waters.
Sincerely,
Wade Troxell
Mayor
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