Item B: Sustainability Commission Recommendations

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ATTACHMENT B FOSSIL FUEL REDUCTION RECOMMENDATION BACKGROUND By August 2010, develop a community action plan that aims to reduce total, current community-wide fossil fuel consumption 50 percent by 2030 (as an absolute not a per capita reduction) by (1) establishing targets for achieving that goal; (2) identifying strategies to achieve those targets; (3) identifying necessary adaptations; (4) developing measures for tracking success; (5) identifying financial impacts, and (6) including periodic progress reports back to the community with annual reports of progress to the Sustainability Commission. Introduction Businesses, government agencies and other organizations, households and many not for profit groups make decisions based on the assumption that oil and gas will remain plentiful and affordable - so starts the Portland c Peak Oil taskforce report of March 2007. In the past few years evidence has emerged that suggests global production of oil and natural gas is likely to reach its peak or has already peaked. This issue is often described as “peak oil”. This is coupled with the continuous rise in global demand for fossil fuels and the huge role they play throughout our community, including production and transportation of many of the goods and services used in Eugene, food production, energy generation and road construction. The spike in fuel prices during spring and summer 2008 gives an indication of how quickly prices can change. The subsequent price reduction is likely to be short-lived as global demand for fossil fuels continues to increase and there are no significant new oil fields being discovered or going into production. In 2006 Portland City Council convened a citizen Peak Oil taskforce that was tasked with examining the potential economic and social consequences of peak oil in Portland and developing recommendations to mitigate the impacts of rising energy costs and declining supplies. The Portland Task Force used the United States Department of Energy report from 2005, Peaking of World Oil Production: Impacts, Mitigation, & Risk management (commonly referred to as the “Hirsch report”) for the starting point of its discussions. The Sustainability Commission reviewed the taskforce report and found the recommendations contained were also very relevant to Eugene. The three main sectors identified in Portland - transportation, heating of buildings and industrial activities that use these fuels, will also be the ones directly affected by fossil fuel prices rises and potentially supply fluctuations in Eugene. Why develop a community plan to reduce fossil fuel use? The Portland Peak Oil taskforce report noted that while all the recommendations in the report were important, achieving a significant reduction in oil and natural gas use is a necessity for easing the transition to an energy constrained future. There is increasing global discussion around and demand for reduction of carbon emissions. Since most of the climate changing carbon emissions are from fossil fuel use, the issues of climate change and fossil fuel use are closely linked. A community response to reducing carbon emissions will therefore need to include widespread reductions of fossil fuel use. Unemployment is also highlighted in the Portland taskforce report as a major economic and social issue that is likely to increase as fossil fuel prices increase, noting particular concern since social services are already stretched to their limits. The number of vulnerable and marginalized community members are likely to grow, as well as be the first and hardest hit by rising oil prices. As noted in the Portland Peak Oil taskforce report, a 50 percent reduction in fossil fuel use over the next 25 years is a meaningful goal from the perspectives of both peak oil and climate change. The reduction rate is in accord with the Oil Depletion Protocol which is a proposed international agreement under which nations would reduce c Descending the Oil Peak: Navigating the Transition from Oil to Natural Gas. Report of the City of Portland Peak Oil Task Force, March 2007. Z:\CMO\2009 Council Agendas\M090209\S090209B.doc