Sep 24 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Cyndy Cole The Arizona Daily Sun, Flagstaff

Flagstaff as a community is unlikely to meet goals to cut global-warming gases below 1990 levels in the next few years, even with aggressive proposals like a carbon tax.

That's the finding of an audit released Monday from City Hall, which measured emissions from vehicles, airplanes, electricity and natural gas use, buses, prescribed burning, trash and more.

It shows Flagstaff's need for winter home heating and its location near a major freeway corridor and a big tourist attraction push up greenhouse gas emissions here, making them higher per-person, on average, than in the rest of Arizona or the country.

In 2006, Mayor Joe Donaldson signed a pledge to reduce greenhouse gases 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. That would mean eliminating about one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions in the city.

Hypothetically, meeting the city's original goals would require about a 23 percent reduction in transportation and driving, or a 28 percent reduction in energy consumption -- or a combination of the two -- according to the report.

Without any action, emissions in the city would increase by 52 percent from 1990 to 2020.

Flagstaff was responsible for about 1.6 million tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emitted in the state, in 2005. That was about 1.7 percent of the state's emissions.

City Hall will be able to meet greenhouse gas targets, but municipal operations are only responsible for about 3 percent of the city's emissions.

Nevertheless, the report outlines some radical proposals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions here (see list). One idea includes a yet-to-be-calculated carbon tax, as the city of Boulder adopted last year at a cost of $16 per household per year. The tax could be used to subsidize energy-efficient appliances or other financial incentives to cut greenhouse gases.

No cost estimates have been made for these measures.

Some might also be illegal, but city attorneys have yet to review them.

For the next three months, the city is planning to hold public meetings to seek feedback on the proposals, said Nicole Woodman, the city's sustainability manager.

The city's audit reviewed United Nations literature on climate change and said that more wildfires, decreasing aquifer recharge and deforestation were happening as a result, along with a 3.6- to 9-degree summertime temperature increase between 2040 and 2069.

Nearly half of the community's emissions come from transportation, which includes traffic on Interstate 40, tourists headed to the Grand Canyon and travel around town.

The City Council received a brief presentation on the audit on Monday, but did not vote on any of the proposals or weigh in on the specifics very much.

Councilman Joe Haughey, who works in real estate, said this would be a big educational effort, and that he hoped to avoid measures that would drive up the cost of housing.

Councilman Rick Swanson said he didn't know whether the citywide goals could be met by 2012.

"It's a big decrease to make the ultimate goal ... but it sure is the right thing to do, I think, to try to get there," he said.

Andy Bessler of the Sierra Club praised Flagstaff's leadership role.

"It's great to see a municipal government do their part to really help solve this problem," said Bessler, who also volunteers on the city's sustainability commission.

PROPOSALS TO CUT FLAGSTAFF EMISSIONS:

--add a carbon tax to gasoline and diesel

--require businesses and industry to buy 10 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2012

--require homeowners to improve the energy efficiency of their homes during remodeling or when homes are put up for sale

--require business owners to improve the energy efficiency of their businesses during remodeling

--persuade 20 percent of drivers to drive hybrid vehicles, possibly by offering financial incentives

--consolidate classroom use at Northern Arizona University, and put computers to sleep when not in use

--allow sale of LCD-type computer monitors only, within city limits

--offer tax rebates to builders who construct energy-efficient buildings

--give households compost bins

--capture methane from the city's landfill, and use it to generate electricity (as is done at a city sewage treatment plant)

--ask employers to offer people without cars flexible work schedules, so they can walk, bus or bike more easily

--ask businesses to install energy-efficient lighting and to reduce their lighting

--encourage residents to use energy-efficient construction and appliances

--reduce bus fares

--create a city reuse center, for re-usable items

--promote the use of refrigerants that aren't known to rapidly speed global warming

--ask residents to buy up to 15 percent of their electricity from renewable resources

--plant trees in open spaces

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