As a member of ICLEI's Cities for Climate Protection and the Great Lakes Climate Policy Coordination Project, Ann Arbor is working to reduce its climate footprint, with the Energy Office leading the way. The first step in addressing climate change is to figure out where we stand today. In 2003, a team of SNRE masters students completed a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Strategy for the City of Ann Arbor (Executive Summary or Full Report, both pdfs). The masters team documented Ann Arbor's 1990 greenhouse gas emissions to be equivalent to 1,951,858 metric tons of CO2 (MTCO2e or MMTCE).
What We're Doing
The report identified 922,619 MTCO2e in cumulative emission reductions from 1991-2002. Among the projects that contribute to ongoing emissions reductions are:
- Landfill Gas-to-Energy Project: 50,000 MTCO2e annually
- getDowntown Program: 10,000 MTCO2e annually
- Biodiesel in City Vehicles: 390 MTCO2e annually
What You Can Do
Just because we're working on the problem, doesn't mean you can't help!
Consider joining our area's local global warming action group: Climate Crisis Action Washtenaw.
Also take a look at Earth Day Network's 10 Things You Can Do Right Now. To learn more about climate change, visit this Pew Center page. Feel the need to do more? Several organizations sell carbon credits you can buy to offset any CO2 emissions you can't live without. This page compares different carbon credit vendors.