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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: April 24, 2007 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. f (:. _ <br />SUBJECT: Cool Cities Program <br />DEPARTMENT: ERCD PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Cool Cities Program document David Stancil, 245-2598 <br />PURPOSE: To consider joining a national campaign of local governments sponsored by the <br />Sierra Club to promote cleaner vehicles, energy efficiency and renewable energy. This program <br />is related to the Cities for Climate Protection program of the International Council for Local <br />Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), of which the County is a member. <br />BACKGROUND: In February 2005, U.S. mayors began a program to address global climate <br />change, on the same day that the Kyoto Protocol treaty took effect in 141 nations. Almost three <br />years earlier, Orange County joined Chapel Hill and Carrboro as.members of the International <br />Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, an organization with similar programs and goals. <br />In recent months, over 200 local governments in the United States have joined the Cool Cities <br />campaign by pledging to reduce global warming through local measures. Asheville, Durham, <br />Chapel Hill and Carrboro in North Carolina are among these cities. <br />To become a member of Cool Cities, a local government must take the following four steps: <br />^ Take the Cool Cities Pledge: Sign a climate protection agreement with a goal of <br />reducing global warming carbon dioxide pollution by 7%. (The ICLEI Cities for Climate <br />protection, or CCP program, currently underway, involves setting of more specific <br />measures related to local emissions). <br />^ Conduct a Global Warming Emissions Inventory (this is also a part of the ICLEI CCP <br />program, and the inventory (County and Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro) is nearing <br />completion at this time). <br />^ Create a Solutions Plan (also the next step in the CCP program once the inventory <br />underway is completed), and <br />^ Implement and monitor- progress (also a final step through the CCP program). <br />