"I CAN SMELL THE CARBON ON YOUR BREATH"
It's hardly the Oxford Union Debate, but Wellington City Council will on Thursday discuss whether they'll aspire to be carbon free.
Although it's merely an aspiration, if set it'll place our fair city on a path that brings carbon accountability into all WCC policy. Although council emissions increased more than 8% in the three years to 2006, they've some handy emission reduction initiatives.
Kai to Compost has shown that commercial food waste can be dealt with - reducing dangerous methane landfill emissions. The programme just needs to scale up. They're also making a significant planting contribution on Arbor Day.
Other cities have stuck their neck out
:: Newcastle (UK) aspires to carbon neutrality
:: Norman Foster is to design waste and carbon free Madsar in the middle east
:: In February the Chinese government unveiled grand plans for an island near Shanghai
:: Malmo in Sweden is also on a carbon neutral path
This weeks meeting is a step in the right direction for Wellington. Can we walk the talk?
4 comments:
nice blog
Nice sentiment from the Wellington City Council, but this is the same council advocating transmission gully and other large roading schemes around the Wellington (Newlands to Korokoro interchange which would destroy a lovely piece of native bush next to Korokoro stream). Wellington is very lucky to have a large amount of native bush around it only by virtue of the fact much of this land is too steep to develop.
It would be nice to see this council actually put its money where its mouth is and stop spending money on big roading projects and think a little more long term by encouraging people to get out of their cars and walk, cycle, or catch public transport to work. The reduction private car usage is one of the most effective ways of reducing carbon usage. The wellington city council spent something like 0.1% of its current budget on the privision of cycle lanes in the city! An increase in the funding to the privision of walking tracks and cycles lanes would be good to see.
it's always baby steps for local and central govt. biz tends to lead on the environment.
someone was telling me today that the regional council are to revisit a key transport strategy after public consultation highlighted its "car friendly bias".
carbon neutrality will cost an arm and a leg unless issues like your bugbears are addressed. although i doubt a drastic spendup on cycle lanes and walking tracks will reduce the number of cars on the road by much.
a "public transport" search at wellurban will get you a whole lot of background on potential solutions...
Over at WellUrban there's a bit more detail into what WCC have done and can do to towards nautrality...
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