Item A: Sustainability Commission Recommendations

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Boundaries for the inventory were chosen to correspond, for the most part, to the boundaries of Eugene Water and Electric Board’s (EWEB) territory. EWEB’s service area roughly matches the Eugene portion of the Metro Plan boundaries. River Road/Santa Clara and the Blachly Lane service territory along Hwy 99, south of Awbrey Lane, were also included. The year 1990 was chosen as a baseline year in order to be consistent with the climate goals of the State of Oregon and many other US cities. This also allows us to comply with the spirit of the Kyoto Protocol, as recommended by the US Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement. Mayor Kitty Piercy is a signatory of the Agreement. An interim year, 2005, was chosen to provide a snapshot of the current emissions situation and allow quantification of reduction measures undertaken after 1990. The target year of 2020 for this inventory is within the planning horizon of most local agencies. This enables the model to use reasonable and existing growth projections, yet still allows sufficient time to implement significant emissions reductions measures. The projections for 2020 were done with a “business-as-usual” scenario. Any emissions reduction measures or programs that are currently in existence or are already included in agencies’ growth projections are therefore included in the base case 2020 scenario. For instance, nodal development and continued expansion of the bus rapid transit system are included in the community vehicle-miles-traveled “business as usual” projections for 2020. 4. Key Findings The growth in GHG emissions from 1990 levels to 2005 was approximately 38%. Projected growth of GHG from 2005 to 2020 is estimated at 21.4%. Total growth in emissions from the base year of 1990 to the target year of 2020 is projected to be two-thirds higher than total 1990 emissions. It’s important to note that any goal to go below 1990 levels must not only reduce current emissions, but avoid all additional GHG emissions resulting from population growth. Figure 1 below shows the growth in total GHG emissions and population for Eugene from 1990 to 2005 and projected to 2020. 3