Magnuson's Green Platform Addresses Big Threat With Small But Powerful Action

August 24th, 2006 at 11:38am Michael Brylawski 133

After my quick web investigation into Westpac (I promised I'd blog on other topics), back to the Sheriff's race.

One reason why I said I supported Rick for Sheriff is that--despite his underdog status--he brings competition, and ultimately, change to an office that is basically on autopilot.

Change for change's sake is not a virtue. But in a dynamic society with some serious threats on the horizon, it's good to see people running for office who want to add some vigor into our public institutions.

In that vein, I take Rick's just announced environmental platform.

Personally, add me to the list of people who think global warming is a major threat. Anyone who wants to move behind the "talking heads" arguments (e.g., Fox News v. Sierra Club) should check out this page for an in-depth overview of the subject.

Aspen, small as we may be, is doing its part in addressing this threat with the Canary Initiative. However, there are a lot of things we are doing now as a community that are a bit counter to our goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG).

One is that our public-safety vehicles are ~15mpg Chevy Tahoes for Pitkin County and ~18mpg XC90s for Aspen.

According to the Canary Initiative's Aspen Emissions Inventory 2004, 25% of Aspen's GHG emissions are from vehicle travel.

Clearly, converting Pitkin's fleet from Tahoes to, say, Highlander hybrids or biodiesels will make only a fractional impact on these emissions. A Highlander would save roughly a half dozen tons a year (12k lbs.), and even the best case of converting ~15 of these would thus save 90 tons. 180,000 lbs. of savings sounds like a lot--but it's less than a tenth of a percent of Aspen's GHG emissions.

A skeptic would easily say "a tenth of a percent? big deal."

My retort is "if our government won't take leadership here, who will?" A tenth of a percent as a start can add up, when others follow--hence the name "Canary Initiative," which invokes Aspen's small but potentially foresighted and powerful role in the U.S. as the canary in the mine.

Plus, successful implementation of hybrids and alt-fuel vehicles in a very tough operating environment can have a positive effect on others' buying decisions. One just has to look at the success of Ford Escape hybrids in the San Francisco and New York taxi fleets.

Anyone whose taken a taxi in these environment knows that the conditions don't get any rougher for a vehicle.

After 100k miles, the Escapes are running strong and beating expectations and providing some unanticipated benefits: reduced brake wear and maintenance, and a nice hedge against the rapid rise in fuel prices this year.

If PitCo can take the same initiative, it will be hard for many of Aspen's more wealthy residents, for instance, to overlook a hybrid vehicle purchase on the grounds that they are not "rugged" enough for the Colorado environment.In fact, I believe other than RFTA, Rick's plan to convert the fleet to hybrid and biofuels is the most ambitious fleet strategy for any governmental agency in the valley.

His small move could have big payoffs in our community's overall work to show how we can address climate change in a positive, economically-sound manner.
Think of his plan as the "canary" in the "Canary Initiative."

Entry Filed under: Environment, Aspen, Pitkin County, Sheriff Race 2006