what information does your local gov't need?
Hello folks,
I'm working with Post Carbon Institute this summer to develop a "Responding to Energy Vulnerability" guidebook for municipal governments. Throughout July I am talking with Planners, managers and elected officials across the U.S. and Canada to help ensure that we're developing a highly useful and relevant product.
I am particularly interested in better understanding (a) what kind of information municipal governments need or want, and (b) in what way a guidebook would be most usefully structured for (i.e., A focused "Toolkit"? A more focused "100 Things You Can Do to Prepare Your Municipality for Energy Uncertainty"? etc.).
To this end I would love to hear you in this Relocalization Network about _your_ experiences in dealing with City/Town staff and officials:
- What did and didn't they know about the issues?
- What did they want to know? What grabbed their imaginations?
- What were the stumbling blocks?
- What worked and what didn't work in your communications?
...or anything else you want to share; any and all information is helpful and much appreciated.
If you want to know more about this project, feel free to contact me directly at daniel {at} postcarbon.org. Thanks!
Daniel
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August 4th, 2006
Some answers to the Four Questions
Daniel,
I have had two and a half years experience as the founder and chairperson of the Warminster Township Energy Advisory Committee (EnAC) for a second class Pennsylvania township (pop. about 33,000). We worked as a volunteer sub-committee to the township's (volunteer) Long Range Planning & Finance Committee (FLRP).
I accepted the invitation because I cut my teeth on our local Earth Charter's Energy and Climate Working Group. I had just finished studying Natural Capitalism, and had met Paul Hawkin at a previous Earth Charter summit. The working group was very cooperative in getting the project accepted and provided credibility and local expertise to my efforts.
I also had begun to make my own home very energy efficient and had a fair appreciation for what it took to do that.
I was first struck by how much of the work in small municipalities is done by volunteers. I also noticed how much time it took to organize and run a committee. It was like a second job.
We used Rocky Mountain Institute's Community Energy Workbook as our strategic plan. The ACEEE Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings (8th Ed.) was our text for homeowners. We used the local chapter of the United States Green Building Council as a resource for comercial structures.
I was not surprised at how little the township officials new about energy efficiency and sustainability. For them, Peak Oil was a new phrase (and new concept). Educating the committee and key officials was our first task. We used specially edited versions of End of Suburbia and the video presentation of Natural Capitalism as our foundation.
There were a few key people (a department chairwoman and a senior volunteer with the FLRP) who had either approached me to pitch the concept or mentored me through the labrinth of getting things accomplished in township government.
What grabbed their imaginations was the potential for substantial cost-savings by using energy efficient devices and strategies. I sold the project as a matter of fiscal responsibility.
The stumbling blocks were a bias against the trigger words "green" and "environmental". When I heard them, I quickly learned to correct them by saying I was concerned only with sustainability and fiscal responsibility. Later on I ran into some ego and turf-protection barriers.
I guess you could say that is what worked and didn't work, too. I was surprised at how attentive and responsive peope were when I introduced myself as the Chairprson of the EnAC. The title opened a lot of doors. It was helpful to be able to switch gears quickly when the original focus on a new community park lost steam through a lack of financing. It was helpful to create a very professional presence at our annual community fair. It helped and hurt to do public education programs at local churches and a large regional library. The success of these events, and the media attention they generated caused the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors to publicly state (in front of me) that I made him nervous.
Eventually, the project was sabotaged from within... on the eve of two stunning practical successes that would have made our committee the darling of the township.
I can provide more on request.
Larry Menkes
215.328.9128 home
267.992.8020 cell
"You must be the change you want to see in the world."
(m. gandhi)
August 29th, 2006
thanks
Thanks for sharing your experiences, Larry, and sorry to hear the project ended up not working.
As you mentioned, I've also been struck by the role that volunteers can and often do play in smaller municipalities. Alan Falleri, the Planner for Willits, California, talked about this a lot in his interivew (http://www.globalpublicmedia.com/interviews/557) with Global Public Media last year on Willits' development of a community process to respond to energy vulnerability. That issue, as well as the need to talk in terms of cost savings and fiscal responsibility, will definitely be discussed in the Guidebook.
Thanks for mentioning the RMI handbook -- I hadn't run across that one, but from a quick web search it looks like it will be very valuable for preparing the Guidebook.
Post Carbon staffer Ellen Bicheler is putting together a "Citizens Toolkit" for grassroots groups -- I'll make sure she sees what you posted here, as it will be of great use to her as well.
Daniel
July 2nd, 2008
What our local government needs
The book, Post Carbon Cities, has proved to be of interest to our local Board of Supervisors (BoS) since two more Democrats were elected last November to create the first Democratic majority in over fifteen years. My chief adversary on the BoS lost his seat.
I provided copies of PCC to all of the Democrats. I was approached after the election and asked if I'd be interested in returning to the Energy Advisory Committee (EnAC) if it was revived. I said yes, and haven't heard a thing from them since then. I do not believe that their having the book makes me irrelevant, but stranger things have happened around here.
I think the thing most needed by our local politicians is a bit more humility (they often prove that they are not the source of infinite wisdom) and an openness to new, but proven ideas. How do we help them with that?
They have recently approved a mix-use transit oriented development near the Warminster SEPTA station. Maybe there is hope.
I read PCC, of course, and it emphasized the need to start with public transportation. I was given an outstanding opportunity to assist with "greening" two local commercial ventures that are connected by a privately owned railroad, the New Hope & Ivyland Railroad (NH&IRR). Naturally I jumped at the chance and was able to use the concepts in PCC to good advantage, getting the venture (The Freedoms Way Foundation) a lot of press, with more coming.
This rail line is an extension of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority's (SEPTA) R-2 rail link to Philadelphia. The southern end of the line there is some commercial traffic, and the northern four and a half miles of this 15 mile piece of track is used for a scenic tourist venture that boasts a steam locomotive.
Both of the ventures in our area are interested in installing passenger stations and preliminary talks with the NH&IRR have been positive. As an energy advisor to the projects I'm helping them retrofit six buildings, (three which are historic) for energy efficiency with the idea of preparing them for both high energy prices and the possibility of energy insufficiency somewhere around 2014.
Although these linked ventures could create the possibility of a commuter rail link for the entire length of the line, which runs from New Hope, PA, Warminster (the current terminus for passenger traffic), Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia International Airport. A sister line, the R-1, uses the same tracks and connects Phila. with the Airport, Wilmington, DE, and New Castle, DE. Adding the 15 mile stretch will unload local roads during summertime if a tourist link is forged. Doing that could open the door to upgrades to a commuter rail link when fuel prices go over $5/gal. or so.
To encourage this project (and for other reasons) I've been active (as a member of) with our regional Chamber of Commerce, The Bucks County Environmental Stewardship Council, and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC), and the Delaware Valley Green Building Council's Residential Working Group (DVGBC). The fact that I took the HERS energy auditor course has also helped.
Why so much committee work? First of all, I'm trying to decide which ones are the most beneficial to work with, as well as to learn from. For the one's that I'm not sure of, I've sat back a bit only taking on projects that are necessary to accept and that I can make a meaningful contribution to. So far, the Chamber, DVGBC, and the DVRPC are the most promising and fulfilling. The Planning Commission is tasked with improving rail transportation in the region and my presence there (as in the other organizations) is a voice toward improving rail service in Warminster region, as well as a reminder that peak oil and global climate change are issues that I stand for and will raise every time it seems appropriate.
I've backed of the planning for the commercial projects since they are having some funding issues and there's a chance that I might not get compensated for all the work I've done. I plan to shift focus onto the committees and also to begin showing up at Township BoS meetings on a regular basis; to forge a link with the Greater Warminster CC, and the Tourist Bureau.
It doesn't hurt that I'm collecting unemployment compensation. I'm trying to create a new career for myself somewhere in all this. I think that becoming a certified auditor is my best shot and will do some serious studying for the RESNET HERS rater certification. This accreditation is an up and coming career; HERS raters do third party testing for Energy Star and LEED certification.
Stay tuned.
Larry Menkes
215.328.9128 home
267.992.8020 cell
"You must be the change you want to see in the world."
(m. gandhi)