City climate report

There are still no specific proposed actions but the city’s first report on tackling the climate emergency says the crisis is being taken seriously.

Image Source: Hamilton Spectator, 2016. TheSpec.com.

There are still no specific proposed actions but the city’s first report on tackling the climate emergency says the crisis is being taken seriously. Suggestions of possible steps were made in the staff presentation, but no recommendations for implementation. An attached consultant report outlines how greenhouse gas emissions might be cut over the next 30 years by 84 percent across the whole city even including the pollution from industries such as the steel mills.

New city manager Janette Smith kicked off last week’s report with a promise to ensure that “essential information on climate change is considered in every department and is provided in a timely manner to inform decision making.” A subsequent resolution by Mayor Eisenberger requires “that staff develop a comprehensive, corporate-wide climate change adaptation and mitigation work plan” by November 20, followed by updates every three months.

That’s similar to the directions given last March when staff were told “to investigate and identify additional actions to be taken to incorporate into existing plans and policies to achieve net zero carbon emissions before 2050; and to also identify “gaps in current programs and projects and strategies to address those gaps.”

Smith assured Councillor Nann that the city will utilize an ecosystem perspective to serve animal and plant life along with humans. “Unless you put a climate lens on all our priorities we won’t hit our targets,” declared Smith. She also promised Councillor Wilson that that lens will be applied to the city’s 2020 capital budget “and some of our operating priorities”.

Wilson asked if the city could also participate in the movement to divest from fossil fuel companies. That question was endorsed by Eisenberger and got a staff response that “we’ve had this conversation internally about our investment strategy”. It was explained that city funds are primarily held in government bonds and that it’s difficult to determine whether those governments are investing in the fossil fuel sector.

Wilson suggested further discussion and Eisenberger said “it would require deeper analysis but I’m sure it’s discoverable … and shouldn’t be an unknown.”

Climate change coordinator Trevor Imhoff emphasized the “catastrophic global impacts affecting Hamilton” including flooding, heat waves and an influx of climate refugees. He indicated some specific emission reduction steps being considered are stormwater runoff fees, electric vehicle charging stations and a city loan program for home energy retrofits. He also argued that city purchasing power guided by climate objectives can be used “to influence local markets”.

The consultant study provides much more detail on how climate-impacting emissions could be reduced. It emphasizes that “the key opportunities are efficiency gains wherever possible followed by fuel switching away from natural gas to electricity and from gasoline to electricity.” And it calculates the reduced spending on energy will exceed $20 billion over the next three decades plus another $9 billion in avoided carbon taxes.

The efficiency proposals include  ‘prioritizing mode share shifts to walking and cycling prior to electrification of the vehicle fleet” and “retrofits and improved building codes before switching to renewables”. It calls for retrofitting nearly all residential, commercial and institutional buildings “to achieve thermal and electrical energy savings of at least 50 percent” by 2050.

“Space heating and water heating are the primary non-industrial source of GHG emissions in 2016,” calculate the consultants.  “By switching to heat pumps and solar hot water, and changing from natural gas to electricity as the primary fuel source, greenhouse emissions are reduced by 91 percent and 89 percent for space heating and water heating, respectively.”

Whole neighbourhood retrofits and use of district energy heating and cooling systems are also recommended and the consultants argue that many of the changes are “no regrets policies” that will produce multiple benefits beyond climate goals. “In many cases, actions that reduce GHG emissions in cities correspond or directly overlap with actions that create a vibrant community, improve public health outcomes, reduce municipal operating and capital costs, and support innovation.”