HOME

Posted on Fri, Apr. 13, 2007
By KAREN DILLON
The Kansas City Star

A Greener World Ahead for KC

To cut greenhouse gases, there'll probably be more recycling, more trees and a smoother traffic flow.

More recycling - much, much more.

More synchronized traffic signals.

Fewer bright lights left on at night in businesses.

Those are just a few recommendations in the first report from Kansas City's climate protection committee to help the city reduce greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

"This has been worked on with great diligence so I'm delighted we have reached this point," said Mayor Kay Barnes. "It is something that is important, not only to the future of Kansas City but to the future of the world."

For now, the report remains a collection of recommendations that the city government will have to implement before they have any impact. But on Thursday the City Council took a step forward and adopted the broad goals laid out in the report:

Make climate protection and reducing greenhouse gases a major factor in all decisions and actions by the city.
Require a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from city government by 30 percent by the year 2020. In addition, a "realistic, but ambitious" goal should be adopted by the end of the year for communitywide reductions.

The report noted that the city already had achieved an estimated reduction in emissions of 6.8 percent between 2000 and 2005.

Support from the new mayor and City Council for the committee to produce another report - one that focuses more on the entire city, not just city government - by the end of the year.

Mayor-elect Mark Funkhouser said he hadn't seen the report but is favorably disposed toward the effort.

"I have believed for years and continue to believe that environmentally sound approaches are almost always economically sound approaches when you take a long view of it," he said.

Two years ago, Barnes signed the climate protection agreement along with dozens of other mayors. That agreement recommends that cities reduce greenhouse gases by 7 percent from 1990 levels by 2012.

Rather than use 1990 as a baseline, the Kansas City steering committee chose the year 2000 mainly because data from earlier years were not available, the report said.

Barnes appointed a steering committee in November, and Dennis Murphey, the city’s chief environmental officer, then appointed four work groups.

"We have accomplished so much," said Susan Brown, a work group member and air quality activist.

Kansas City pollution increased from more than 9.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide released in 2000 to 9.9 million metric tons five years later.

Of that amount, almost 320,000 metric tons is from the city government, even though that amount decreased a little by 2005.

According to the report, "there is no time to waste moving ahead with these actions."

Without action by the city and community, emissions are expected to increase 19 percent by 2020.

But the report notes that doesn't take into account the recent Kansas City Power & Light agreement with the Sierra Club and Concerned Citizens of Platte County. That agreement requires the utility to put state-of-the-art emission controls on two existing plants and a third plant that is under construction, which will result in large decreases in emissions from those plants.

KCP&L also agreed to pay $180,000 to support the report"s climate change initiatives.

Murphey noted that Kansas City's climate change planning was ahead of other cities in Missouri, including St. Louis and Columbia, where discussions are just beginning.

The recommendations in the report are meant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but they also will help the region reduce ozone emissions. Kansas City is expected to violate the federal Clean Air Act, probably by June.

When that happens, the region will face penalties and requirements to reduce ozone levels.

"I think it is a good start," Murphey said of the report. "A 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020 is a very high standard."

The committee tried to keep the recommendations simple and easy to achieve.

Expanded recycling would have the largest impact of the report's recommendations. It would reduce emissions by more than 100,000 metric tons annually communitywide.

Among recycling recommendations:

Increased and expanded curbside recycling that would bring the thousands of people who live in apartment complexes into the program.
Mandatory recycling for city-supported construction and demolition projects.
Expanded city government recycling and green purchasing.

In addition, the report said a comprehensive traffic signal/flow coordination plan would minimize idling and reduce emissions. The city has studied synchronization for years.

The report also said expanding the city's forestry program could save 33,800 metric tons annually. Murphey said the city wants to plant 120,000 trees over the next 10 years.

Other recommendations:

Educating the community and businesses about what they could do. For example, businesses should turn off lights or dim them at night.
Continue the Million Lights Campaign to change incandescent light to fluorescent bulbs.
Reduce the use of polluting lawnmowers for city and park land.
Establish a city energy office.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@ To read the climate change report online, go to KansasCity.com

back to our home page