Ann Hancock

With vision and boldness, all of Sonoma's nine cities and the County pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions as part of a campaign led by the International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives - ICLEI. In doing so, Sonoma set a national precedent. For the first time, all governments in an area are committed to climate protection.

More than 530 cities and counties around the world - 135 of them in the U.S. - participate in ICLEI's campaign. Together these local jurisdictions are preventing millions of tons of carbon dioxide from going into the atmosphere. Local benefits include saving money, building more livable communities, and giving people hope that something can be done about climate change.

Participating governments follow five steps to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions:

• Conduct an analysis to determine the amount of ghg emissions produced
• Set targets for reducing the emissions
• Create a plan for achieving the targets
• Implement the plan
• Monitor results and intervene as appropriate

Each government sets its own emissions reduction goal, schedule and plan.

Although I knew about ICLEI's campaign for several years, I didn't grasp its power and potential until last year when I attended a conference that drew together local elected officials and staff from the U.S. and Canada. The "can do" spirit of these leaders inspired me. And once I learned that Los Angeles was part of the campaign, I knew there wasn't anything stopping all of Sonoma from joining the campaign, too.

Sonoma County recently completed its emissions inventory and set a goal of reducing its greenhouse gases by 20 percent from 2000 to 2010. Aiming for a 20 percent reduction is common among ICLEI participants. By comparison, the Kyoto Treaty calls for an approximate seven percent reduction and scientists recommend a fifty to seventy percent reduction.

Santa Rosa is almost finished with its inventory, too, and afterwards will move to target setting and creating a plan to achieve it. The other eight cities are considering a proposal to work together on their inventories. This will set the stage for Sonoma's cities and the County to think big when designing strategies to make significant emission reductions.

We envision that by the end of 2003 there will be 300 U.S. cities committed to emission reductions. Sierra Club members can help make this happen by introducing this campaign to local elected officials of municipalities not yet part of the campaign, i.e., everywhere in the Redwood region except Sonoma and Arcata. If you'd like to get involved please contact Margaret Pennington at penningt@sonic.net or 707-829-2294.

Members in Sonoma can also contact their local elected representatives and thank them for taking action to protect the climate.

For more information about the Sonoma County Climate Protection Campaign, please contact Ann Hancock, (707) 829-1224, ahancock@pair.com.