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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-05-13-CAPAH-minLexington Climate Action Plan Ad Hoc Committee Approved Meeting Minutes May 13, 2008 Room 111, Town Hall Present: Rick Abrams Marilyn Campbell Marcia Gens Dan Jones JJ Krawczyk Jeanne Krieger Bob Kvall Andy McClaine Patrick Mehr Charlie Moore Katherine Moore Todd Rhodes Adam Sacks Toby Sackton Mark Sandeen Sam Silverman 1) discussion of target reductions There was a bit of discussion on what should come first: - Decide on programs, and base reduction goal on what could be achieved via those programs. - Decide on targets, and base programs on those goals. The consensus in the room was to do the latter with the realization that some of this will be going on in parallel. There was also the realization that the targets will change as we progress. We will look at setting up two targets, one in the short term (2020) and one for the longer term (2050). Given that the first reductions will probably be the easiest, many committee members feel that a very aggressive 2020 goal be set. The range will likely be omewhere between 20% and 50 %. For the longer term goal, we'd like to get as close to carbon neutral as possible. 2) Revisions / updates to our model Commercial utilization still need to follow up with Lincoln Labs Shire has a person who will work with the committee DMV - Marilyn is working this through Jim Marzilli's office There is a desire (need) to engage our commercial entities to report on their energy use / carbon footprint. 3) 9th Grade carbon footprint study 9th grade Earth Science students at LHS take part in a year long project to understand their family's carbon emissions. One part of the project is to run several on -line carbon calculators, including the GWAC calculator. Toby and JJ met with Dr. Avon Lewis to learn about the project and discuss whether we could obtain data anonymously from students in an ongoing fashion. Dr. Lewis agreed that this is possible and she would be willing to help make it happen. The plan is to create a separate version of the GWAC calculator (at a different URL) that would be for exclusive use by the students. This version of the calculator would save the data for the committee's use. Dr. Lewis also noted that the curriculum is subj ect to change in the future and if the global warming project is removed from the curriculum, we'd no longer be getting the data. It is the committee's responsibility to come up with a plan to modify the carbon calculator and to find a place to host it. 4) Review of public meeting & ideas coming out of the meeting. Katherine compiled a list of the suggestions from the meeting. We now need a way to evaluate these and other ideas to determine costs and benefits. Action items: Rick and Charlie will look at what Cambridge Energy Alliance is doing. Mark and Todd will look at establishing a methodology for evaluating possible programs. Marcia is interested in tackling some school issues, especially lunch waste. 5) Rick distributed information and talked a bit about the GWAC fundraiser he will be hosting on June 1, 5:00 - 6:30PM. Special guests are Jim Hansen (acclaimed climate change scientist and head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies) and Mark Bowen (Lexington resident and author of _Censoring Science). Suggested donations: $125 to $250 per person. RSVP by May 23 to Rickya @mac.com or 781 - 860 -0241. 6) New business Adam distributed information on the GWAC- sponsored "Youth Speak Out on Climate! ", which will be Thursday, May 22, 7:OOPM, in the meeting room at Cary Library. Adam is also forming a "Climate Reality" subcommittee to investigate appropriate targets and programs for more aggressive carbon reductions and scenarios for a post- carbon society. Dan and Andy will participate. Others who are interested should contact Adam. 7) Minutes for the April meeting were unanimously approved. 8) Future meeting schedule: June 10, Room 111, Town Office Building July and August meetings will be scheduled at the June 10 meeting.