Cool Cities Campaign
July, 2008
David Van Winkle, Cool Cities Committee Chair
In the USA, mayors are taking the lead toward adoption of clean and
affordable energy. This includes improvement of public transit, green
standards for buildings, use of smart energy solutions, and new urbanism. Currently, the Santa Fe Cool Cities team is focusing on four issues.
- The city of Santa Fe will adopt a new residential building code in
the near future. We are working with the city council to ensure that the new
code is consistent with current technology to build sustainable and energy
efficient homes. Existing cost effective construction approaches can reduce
energy consumption by 50% compared to existing homes.
- The city of Santa Fe is considering alternatives for how to create
the power to pump water from the Buckman Direct Diversion project to
Santa Fe. We are working with them on renewable alternatives.
- The public needs education about global warming/climate change,
its causes and potential solutions. The Santa Fe Cool Cities Campaign
distributed 15,000 Compact Florescent Lights (CFL) in the past year as part
of this education program. This program will continue and expand in the
schools and other venues.
- Our campaign has created Cool Biz, a program that targets local
businesses to educate and involve them towards campaign objectives.
Resources for Businesses
Businesses can provide significan leadership in reducing greenhouse gas emission and finding the associated competitive advantages and cost savings. Major business leaders, such as General Electric and DuPont have made strong committments to clean energy and emissions reductions.
There are no cost, low cost, and long-term investment solutions for every business. Go to the CoolBiz Santa Fe website for in-depth guidance on how to reduce carbon emissions and protect Santa Fe’s natural and business climate.
Sign Up for CoolBiz Santa Fe Now!
Because businesses vary significantly across the sector, so will the straegies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The following is a sampling of available resources:
Documents
Links
In the USA mayors are taking the lead toward adoption of clean and affordable energy. This includes improvement of public transit, green standards for buildings, use of smart energy solutions, and new urbanism. About 30 volunteers are involved in the Cool Cities Campaign in Santa Fe. They are divided into the following five groups:
- Group 1: data collection for carbon emissions – to establish the baseline and monitoring progress.
- Group 2: lobbying the City Council and interacting with City officials – to promote relevant legislation and to monitor progress.
- Group 3 :transportation – to improve SF public transportation, bikeways and sidewalks.
- Group 4: education – to raise the awareness of school students and Santa Fe residents of global warming and climate protection.
- Group 5: business outreach – to involve Santa Fe businesses in the climate protection campaign. Cool Cities Campaign: Business Outreach Marketing Plan (doc)
For more information call David Van Winkle - 505 820-1006
