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Environment focus of city's campaign
Ventura plan includes cutting gasoline use
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More from County NewsThe city of Ventura pledges to reduce its reliance on gasoline, plant more trees and retrofit city buildings to the highest environmental standards, under a new campaign going to city leaders tonight for consideration.
Titled Get Your Green On, the campaign features 10 actions the city vows to take to reduce its energy consumption and enhance its environmental image.
Among them, the city would reduce its gasoline use by 5 percent in the fiscal year that ends in July and by 10 percent in the 2008-09 fiscal year. It also would use biodiesel fuel in diesel equipment, purchase only 100 percent recycled paper, double the amount of trees planted annually in the city beginning in 2008, and require demolition and new construction projects to divert at least half of their waste from the local landfill.
The City Council will hear a presentation on the campaign and consider it when it meets at 7 tonight at Ventura City Hall, 501 Poli St.
As part of the presentation, city staff will describe an inventory of current practices.
The council also will consider signing the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, asserting its support for state and federal policies and programs aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.
If it signs the agreement, the city would agree to inventory global warming emissions in all city operations and across the community, set reduction targets and create a blueprint to reach those targets.
Under the action plan, the city would agree to retrofit city buildings toward qualifying for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design status — nationally accepted benchmarks for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings.
It's unclear how much the campaign could cost or save the city, as no fiscal analysis has been included as part of the campaign.
If new money is needed to implement the actions, the city staff would return to the council with funding recommendations, according to an administrative report.
More information can be found on the city's Web site at www.cityofventura.net/GreenVentura.
Posted by fpecar4525 on November 5, 2007 at 5:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
As usual, the do-nothing but talk-a-lot-about-it Ventura City Council has more bla bla planned for tonight's City Council meeting. This current council is all about "plan forever, build never".
Posted by cassandra on November 5, 2007 at 7:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This is more than a nice thing for Ventura to do for the planet. It is also a preparation for the future, a preparation sadly lacking at the national level.
Petroleum peaked two years ago. We are at an end of cheap oil. All those miles of crowded freeways are destined to thin out and all those long distance resources will become prohibitively expensive.
This is the time to build local production, improve rail and public transportation and get ready for a different future for as long as we have one.
We are fortunate to have a City Council that understands business as usual will not cut it. While these steps are baby ones, they are a beginning. As long as we know far more is needed.
We need to connect our efforts with those in the state and whatever corner of our benighted nation ready to look ahead to a less abundant and less wasteful time.
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