I wanted to thank the Durango City Council for hosting a public hearing on our climate goals on Nov. 4. By the Mayor’s own admission, no one at the hearing, councilors and the public alike, advocated against the need to address climate change. Unfortunately, it’s clear from Sustainability Manager Marty Pool’s presentation that we will not make our 2030 goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50%.
So now what? How do we make up for lost time so we’re back on track for the 2050 goal? Some suggestions: (city operations) implement more of the energy performance contract recommendations to save money and energy; (waste diversion) implement pay as you throw policies which have been shown to vastly increase composting (see payasyouthrow.org for best practices), provide public transit to the airport during peak times of the day, and seek creative ways to fund this work (including establishing airport fees, changing the sustainability fee to one based on a percentage, and leveraging private investments via public/private partnerships.)
According to Pool’s presentation, Aspen, with a budget similar to Durango’s, allocates several million dollars to climate and sustainability, while we spend only a fraction of that. Pool revealed different sources of revenue similar Colorado communities are using to drive down carbon emissions. We can and must do better. Pay now, or pay later with wildfires, droughts, and flooding.
Darcy Hitchcock
Durango
