Durham to tackle global warmingDURHAM -- Durham is moving forward with a plan to curb any impact it might have on global warming, following the trend of cities fearing potentially catastrophic projections.
At least one regional expert scoffs at the idea.
Nonetheless, local officials requested feedback on a local action plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at a public forum Thursday night. About 30 area residents were on hand.
The plan is the work of Durham County, the city and the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization, and aims to curb greenhouse gas emissions based on 2005 levels.
The goal is to reduce emissions from homes, businesses and cars across the county by 30 percent before 2030.
And it aims to reduce emissions from government operations by 50 percent in the same time period.
The project is part of Durham's membership in the Cities for Climate Protection group, an organization of about 800 local governments across the world. No other Tar Heel cities are participating. Durham joined the climate group in 1996.
A local global warming study was conducted in 1999, but resulted in no subsequent action.
"We're trying to revisit this and make it an issue again," said Ellen Beckmann, transportation planner with Durham's Department of Public Works and the greenhouse gas emissions project's director.
A 2006 study, done as one of the group's "milestones," found that Durham had produced 6,837,430 tons of greenhouse gases in 2005.
That puts the city about four tons above the national average for per capita emissions -- 24.1 tons per year.
Greenhouse gases, of which the most recognizable is carbon dioxide, are thought to contribute to global warming. These gases trap heat in the atmosphere.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency's position is that humans are most likely contributing to the increase in global temperatures, but natural variation cannot be ruled out.
A National Aeronautics and Space Administration report stated that temperatures have risen about 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit since 1900.
The advisory board that Durham called upon to make this plan was made up of representatives from the city, the county, utility companies, the state Division of Air Quality, the sustainability coordinator at Duke University and environmental advocacy groups.
Some ideas to achieve the goals include increasing energy-efficient building techniques, encouraging mass transit, limiting urban sprawl, and promoting alternative vehicles and fuels, according to the local action plan.
Durham is also installing energy-efficient LED traffic lights and increasing the deployment of bike cops.
Rob Jackson, a professor at Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, said Earth has reached uncharted emissions territory.
He said that for 400,000 years, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were less than 300 parts per million, even with drastic fluctuations between ice ages and warmer conditions. But that level began rising with the onset of the Industrial Revolution, and is now more than 380 parts per million.
He also said Arctic Sea ice has shrunk 20 percent in the past 30 years, and if the warming trend continues, it could lead to inland flooding, more powerful hurricanes, exacerbated droughts and ocean current changes.
"All these reasons lead me to the conclusion that we should be addressing this," he said. "We control the outcome. It's in our best interest environmentally and economically to take care of this."
But some scientists disagree with those conclusions and decry efforts to reverse such a trend as useless.
Fred Singer, a professor emeritus at the University of Virginia and a climate scientist for 45 years, said that while Earth has experienced slight warming, it is a function of natural variation.
If global warming were man-made, Singer said, the temperature change would increase percentage-wise with altitude, up to six miles above sea level.
But data from last year's U.S. Climate Change Science Program report does not show this. And saying global warming is bad indicates that the present temperature is perfect, Singer said, which is unlikely.
"The climate fluctuates in funny ways, just like the stock market," he said. "Any attempt to stop it would be completely useless and ineffective and very costly."
In Durham, the energy efficient building would be rolled into construction cost, Beckmann said, but there is no estimate for how much these measures would cost.
"A lot could change between now and then," she said. "Technology will become cheaper, hopefully."
But some of the measures can get pricey.
"I don't want to say everything we do will be cost-effective," Beckmann said. "We might just do things because they're the right things to do and to show we're taking leadership on this."
But she said the efficiency measures are an up-front cost for long-term benefit, and that the city would be cost-effective if possible.
The next step is to review the feedback received at Thursday's public forum from comment cards and surveys, and present a final plan to the city, county and MPO this fall.
Implementation is a separate process. The City Council would evaluate and vote on programs aimed at meeting these goals on a yearly basis.
"This is, for the most part, a target," Beckmann said. "It doesn't bind us to starting any projects."
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