HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-12-18-CAPAH-minLexington Climate Action Plan Ad Hoc Committee
Approved Meeting Minutes
December 18, 2007
Room 111, Town Hall
Present:
Rick Abrams
Marilyn Campbell
John Huchra
Dan Jones
Kenneth Karnofsky
JJ Krawczyk
Jeanne Krieger
Andy McClaine
Charles Moore
Ken Moraff
Adam Sacks
Toby Sackton
Sam Silverman
1) Minutes from the November meeting were approved unanimously.
2) Action items from November meeting
- Jeanne reports that Carl Valente is ready to give us data. He wishes to protect his staffs
time, so all requests will go to Candy McLaughlin via Jeanne.
- Candy submitted data on waste to Marilyn.
- Andy has been documenting the data we have been receiving. He will distribute the
spreadsheet he is using so the rest of us can identify any holes. Someone noted that there
are certain buildings in town for which we may not be able to get any data (National
Heritage Museum, faith buildings).
- Charlie has contacted NSTAR and is in the process of contacting Keyspan (National
Grid). The NSTAR contact is Mark Lucas. A meeting has been scheduled for
Wednesday, Jan 2 at 10:00AM (location TBD, in Lexington). The discussion will center
on data they can provide and programs they can share.
- Toby contacted ARLEX and provided a handout. Oil companies appear to rely on
heating- degree data to gauge demand. Not sure if we'll get any hard data from them.
Toby did not contact Dick Canale yet (regarding Metropolitan Area Planning Council).
- Dan was unable to get anything from the DMV but did establish an "interesting" contact
on Sharon's committee. It may take a "political process" to extract the raw data from the
DMV (action by a state representative, commissioner, etc.) or to find the right person at
the DMV to massage the data into what we need. It was noted that the DMV data does
not include mileage, even summarized for category of vehicle.
-Andy developed the job description for the intern position. Rick will coordinate
postings and getting resumes. Jeanne will ask Candy about supervision and location for
the intern.
- John & Andy had an action item to do a literature search on how manufactured goods
might have been handled by other committees. A discussion ensued about manufacture
and transportatino footprints of consumer goods. Do we want to include this in our
inventory in order to find opportunities to make reductions? Does ICLEI provide any
guidance? An educated guess was made that grocery /food purchases probably have
the largest impact.
2) Goal setting: when do we complete the inventory?
Do we present our results in a public meeting? Local cable and newspapers are also
options. This is our first step in getting community buy -in. How do we get people to
show up / pay attention? Needs to be compelling.
Suggestion: Earth Day report card on Lexington carbon footprint. Not school vacation
week; Town Meeting will still be in session.
Not just presentation of data; there needs to be a narrative. Need to create dynamic w/
community so that they get involved.
Goal: roughly around Earth Day (April 22).
3) MCAN Conference (MIT)
Cambridge wants to be looked upon as a leader in carbon reduction. They have sent a
50% reduction goal even though they are just getting started.
Hull's presentation on their action plan was very good.
Question:Does Lexington was to declare a leadership position a la Cambridge?
4) ICLEI Conference
Lexington has a very good reputation thanks to GWAC.
Some small towns efforts are being led by individual.
ICLEI wants to help. They have a Boston office. They are willing to listen to our
questions and help out.
5) Future meeting schedule (all Tuesdays)
Jan 22
Feb 12
Mar 11
Apr 8
May 13
Jun 10
6) Sam noted an article in the Dec 10 New Yorker magazine entitled "The Checklist ". He
noted that we might incorporate this low -tech yet effective tool into our efforts.
6) Adam noted Keene, NH is a pilot town for a new ICLEI program (Climate - Resilient
Cities) that is geared toward climate change adaptation (as opposed to merely mitigation).
He will have more information at our next meeting.