Residents are demanding the city of Durango take its greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals – and the health of the community and the environment – more seriously.
The city is failing to live up to a 2021 resolution to reduce emissions by 50% compared with 2016 levels by 2030 and 100% by 2050. Residents said the city needs to invest in sustainability and accountability to get back on track.
Durango Sustainability Manager Marty Pool said at an October meeting a 2022 greenhouse gas inventory demonstrated the two largest sources of emissions are transportation and energy consumption in buildings.
The key to reducing emissions, he said, is electrification – the replacement of technologies that use fossil fuels with technologies powered by electricity: electric vehicles and modernized heat pumps, for example.
Without implementing any electrification, the city would produce about 200,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e) in 2030, and over 100,000 in 2050, according to a presentation by Pool.
The city produced about 300,000 MTCO2e in 2016, according to data presented by Pool.
Without a concerted effort, the city would fall well short of its goal of zero greenhouse gas emissions 25 years from now, the data show.
A combination of energy conservation and aggressive electrification, however, can set the city straight on the path to meet its 2050 goals, he said. But the city’s 2030 goals are impractical at this point.
Dick White, resident and former mayor, said in a public comment that the perception of climate change has evolved through the years from a “likely possibility to an existential threat.”
Building electrification is difficult because Durango is full of old homes, he said. But the biggest issue is whether the city is “making resilience investments commensurate with the threat of climate change.”
He said the city needs to build a pipeline tapping into Lake Nighthorse because water resiliency is vital.
The city owns water rights to a fraction of the raw water at Lake Nighthorse, and a pipeline transferring the water to the city would improve its water supply resiliency, according to a 2023 city analysis.
White said Pool, as the city’s sustainability manager, is responsible for educating and collaborating with the city’s various departments about sustainability initiatives. He questioned if Pool has been given the resources required to do so.
“Does he have the time to do that in addition to his other duties? There are major issues here about the allocation of funds to the program and to the city’s goals,” White said.
He said the city must reexamine its budget through the lens of climate change.
“The lens in Washington (U.S. Congress) is broken,” he said. “We need to use the budget as a lens to focus on every aspect that the city does and how it relates to our climate goals.”
Pool is the sole employee in the city’s sustainability division. Residents say he can’t meet the city’s emissions goals on his own.
“An underfunded single-person division of Marty is not an authentic effort to follow through with a commitment of this magnitude,” said Jenny Hill, executive director of the Four Corners Office for Resource Efficiency. “We have two urgent requests to get us back on track. The good news is that these efforts are often self-sustaining once put into action.”
She said wildfires, flooding and unpredictable monsoons are tangible effects of climate change in Durango, and the city needs to make a “sincere, aggressive effort” to combat climate change.
Adaptation is a sign of real leadership, she said. The city could increase its sustainability fee – currently a flat rate of $2.30 that appears on utility bills – or pursue a franchise fee agreement with the La Plata Electric Association, for example.
“Councilors, you set this goal and you are accountable for the lack of effort in meeting it, but greenhouse gas reductions must be a citywide effort – not just a single man’s concern,” she said. “We urge you to make this a top priority for the city manager and to include sustainability accountability as an important component of the city manager’s annual review.”
She said 4CORE is ready to partner with the city because facing climate change is not a one-man job.
“To ensure long-term success, please think beyond a single person for this role and integrate climate solutions, resilience and adaptation into essential city services, including core infrastructure like streets, water and sewer infrastructure operations,” she said.
Durango’s sustainability division has a budget of $405,499 for 2026. Pool said an growing percentage of the budget is spent on electricity bills for the city’s electric vehicle charging stations, although the stations generate some revenue as well.
He broke the budget down like so:
- 42% is spent on personnel.
- 44% is spent on projects and programs.
- 10% pays for utilities such as charging stations.
- 3% is spent on dues and memberships.
- 1% pays for administrative activities such as printing and supplies.
Of the 44% that pays for projects and programs – what directly contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions: $60,000 is spent on composting programs, $40,000 is spent on electric vehicle programs that are funded by charging station revenues, and $15,000 is spent on energy efficiency programs funded by the city’s sustainability fee.
Another $50,000 is spent on programs unrelated to reducing greenhouse gases such as water efficiency, education about recycling and community sustainability grants, Pool said.
Resident Brian Rogers said addressing climate change is challenging because the issue rarely seems urgent in the moment and tends to be set aside.
“Some may say that Durango’s efforts don’t matter in the face of a global problem. But that misses the essence of leadership of a privileged community,” he said. “Every ton of carbon avoided anywhere matters everywhere, and local action is how global progress happens: one community at a time.”
He said building and transit electrification doesn’t just combat climate change – it makes the air cleaner, reduces utility bills and makes homes safer.
Pool said emissions are the product of thousands of individuals, and holistic, collective action is needed to reduce them. That requires working with LPEA and La Plata County.
Permitting for solar energy development and battery utility storage is needed, he said, noting the county has a moratorium that has delayed a battery storage project because of residents’ safety and environmental concerns over lithium-ion battery storage.
There are competing priorities and funding within the city and the community, Pool said. And the adoption of energy efficiency codes has been delayed, although City Council passed a slew of relevant code amendments this fall.
Durango’s development codes have historically been vehicle-centric, he said. Three Springs wasn’t developed with any sort of commitment to account for public transit, for example. Public transit and walkability need to be considered for future developments.
“There’s funding constraints for those said transit services,” he said. “And it has to be acknowledged that there wasn’t any funding dedication associated with the greenhouse gas reduction tied to those goals explicitly.”
The city’s biggest effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions was its energy performance contract, which funded about 30 water and energy efficiency projects valued at $7 million.
“That was a really great milestone,” Pool said. “But it was delayed significantly and is really the only significant energy efficiency investment recently for city of Durango facilities.”
Still, it is not all doom and gloom, he told The Durango Herald. Durango’s greenhouse gas emissions, although behind the pace set by City Council in 2021, are 20% lower than the national average and 36% lower than the statewide average.
Emissions from city, residential and commercial buildings are dropping. Likewise, transportation emissions are decreasing as vehicles become more efficient and electric vehicles rise in popularity, he said.
cburney@durangoherald.com
