Chittenden County Climate Action Planning

1. Chittenden County Climate Action Planning CCRPC Board Presentation February 15, 2012 Julie Potter, Senior Planner

2. Objectives • Review CCRPC’s recent Energy, Air Quality, Climate Action Planning activities • Highlight findings of draft Chittenden County Climate Change Trends and Impacts report • Highlight contents of Best Practices report • Next steps for climate action planning • Questions & answers

3. UPWP Task 2.2.3.2 • Multi-year program in UPWP • Transportation Environmental Planning: Energy, Air Quality and Climate Action Planning • Identify policies and actions that will help the region reduce energy consumption, air pollution and global warming

4. Building on Air Quality Study • 2010 report:Keeping Our Air Clean • Research on air quality issues for the region • Implications of ozone non-attainment • Identify strategies to improve air quality

5. Air Quality Strategies Local and regional strategies for: • Transportation • Land use • Energy conservation • Energy efficiency Strategies grouped by implementer: • Individuals • Employers • Municipalities • CCRPC

6. Major Air Quality Findings • Ozone concentrations are partly due to pollution from mid-west power plants and partly due local emissions • Major local sources: vehicles, solvent use, residential wood combustion, fossil fuel combustion • Air quality and climate change are linked through fossil fuel consumption • Recommendation to develop a climate action plan

7. Building onAll Hazard Mitigation Plan • Hazards identification • Risk assessment • Vulnerability analysis • Mitigation strategies • Top hazards all related to, or aggravated by predicted climate change impacts.

8. Climate Change and Our Region • In-house review of how climate change is affecting our region • Tied-in with ECOS Plan • Draft report for public comment • Finalize in April

9. Key Climate Trend Findings

10. Key Climate Trend Findings • Key climate indicators show change over the past 30+ years • Increased annual and seasonal temperatures • Decreased lake ice cover • Longer growing season • Increased precipitation, but less snow • Climate models indicate continued trends over this century, with more extreme weather • Our climate will become like the Mid-Atlantic

11. Impacts: Environment &Natural Resources • Air quality will deteriorate • More spring flooding and low summer stream flows • Impacts to water quality and aquatic species • Change in forest type and impacts to forest species

12. Impacts: Public Health • Increased risk of heat stress • Increase risk of flooding injuriesand deaths • Increased risk of vector-borne diseases • Increased pollen results in moreseasonal allergies and asthma • Increased ozone leads to more respiratory illness

13. Impacts: Built Environment • Infrastructure damage along flood-prone shorelines, rivers and streams • Transportation system disruptionand damage: culverts, roads, railways, bridges • Water supply and wastewater system damage and water quality problems; summer well water shortages • Increased summer electricity demand for cooling • Power outages from storms, high demand

14. Impacts: Local Economy • Flood damage to crop lands,summer droughts • Heat stress reduces dairy yield • Heat decreases apple, grape, berry yields • Spread of weeds, insect pests and diseases • Warmer temperatures hurtmaple sugar production • Autumn tourism and winterrecreation negatively affected

15. Climate Action Planning • 2012 TranSystems report: Climate/Energy/Air Quality Planning Best Practices Review and Summary • Modeling tools for greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories • Best practices from states, regions, cities • Compilation of strategies to reduce GHGs

16. Next Steps • Conduct regional GHG emissions inventory • Climate action plan for mitigation (reduce GHG emissions) and adaptation (reduce impacts from climate change) • Advisory committees to guide these tasks • Work products to be incorporated into the ECOS Plan

17. Questions?