The Durham County Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory and Local Action Plan is a joint effort of the City of Durham, Durham County, and the DCHC MPO. The plan consists of an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions in the county, a forecast of 2030 emissions, an evaluation of measures to reduce emissions, and an implementation plan to achieve emission targets.
The target for community greenhouse gas emissions is to reduce emissions by 30% from 2005 levels by 2030. Community emissions include emissions from all residences, businesses, and industries in Durham County. It also includes all transportation emissions from vehicles traveling on roads in Durham County.
The target for local government greenhouse gas emissions is to reduce emissions by 50% from 2005 levels by 2030. Local government emissions include emissions from the operations of the City of Durham, Durham County, and Durham Public Schools.
The City of Durham is a participant in ICLEI's Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) campaign. ICLEI is an organization of local governments committed to sustainability. The CCP campaign enlists cities to adopt policies and adopt measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. More than 150 cities, towns, and counties in the United States and over 600 municipalities worldwide participate in this campaign. The Durham County Greenhouse Gas Plan will help the City fulfill its commitment to climate change mitigation. For more information on the CCP campaign, click on this link: ICLEI CCP Campaign.
ICLEI Energy Services from Toronto, Canada was selected as the consultant for the creation of the plan.
The Greenhouse Gas Plan was guided by an advisory group and a technical team that were created for the project. The advisory group consisted of elected officials and staff from the city and county, staff from the NC Department of Air Quality, citizens, environmental advocates, representatives of major employers and business organizations, and representatives of energy providers. The advisory group’s role was to guide the policy aspects of the plan. The technical team consists of staff from the City, County, and State. The technical team’s role was to provide technical expertise in the many areas that this plan will affect such as fleet and facilities management, utilities, energy consumption, land use planning, transportation, etc.
The planning process began in March of 2006. Data collection for the emission inventory and forecast took about six months to complete. Information was provided by the City, County, MPO, state government, utilities, local advocacy groups, businesses, industries, and institutions in Durham County. The advisory group and technical team then developed the local action plan and the recommended emission targets.
There was a Public Forum to share the recommended plan on Thursday, June 21, 2007 from 6pm to 8pm in Council Chambers in Durham City Hall. The public forum included a presentation of the recommended plan and a presentation of the science of climate change. Please see the Events page for more information about the public forum.
Since the public forum, the plan was revised to incorporate public comments and responses from the online survey. A final recommended plan was adopted by the City and County on September 19, 2007 at a joint meeting. The Transportation Advisory Committee of the DCHC MPO approved the plan on October 10, 2007.