The Dallas Green Zine

I. Lessons Learned from Edward Mazria’s Lecture 

I attended a lecture last week in which Edward Mazria was the speaker. Mazria is an internationally recognized architect who employs a cutting-edge environmental approach to its design (and has been doing so for decades). He speaks nationally and internationally on the subject of climate change and architecture.

His lecture focused on the 2030 Challenge – a challenge for the global architecture and building community to reduce the footprint. 

Mazria cites that buildings are the major source of demand for energy and materials that produce by-product greenhouse gases. Stabilizing emissions in this sector and then reversing them to acceptable levels is key to keeping global warming to approximately a degree centigrade (°C) above today’s level.

Mazria said there are 2 events converging to bring catastrophe:

• Increase in energy consumption: The US is expected to increase consumption by 34% by year 2030. The three main energy consumption sectors are Industry, Transportation and Building. The Building sector has the highest consumption at 48%.

Further, of the country’s energy, 76% of it goes to operate buildings.

Based on information from the US Department of Energy, we are on our way to using the remaining 25% oil reserves in US. Given that, plus the fact that the majority of remaining oil is in Middle East, we should not rely on oil as our energy source. Coal is the resource we have in our own lands; however, it is the dirtiest form of energy! Therefore we must implement energy conservation and efficiency in buildings, and use greener sources of energy.

• Climate Change: Global temperature increases with the levels of CO2. Currently the atmosphere has 380 ppm CO2, which has never been seen before! An increase in global temperature of 2 degrees Centigrade is considered “Dangerous Climate Change.” The projection is that we will be in this state by 2050. An increase of 3 degrees is considered “Catastrophic Climate Change” – and the projection is that at our current course, we will reach this by 2100.

With dangerous climate change, there would be no more polar bears, seals, or Arctic life as we know it; all plants and animals will try to migrate towards poles to follow the climate they need for survival. There won’t be any coral reefs. Hurricanes will be able to hold more moisture, causing them to be more intense. Sea level will rise significantly, forcing humans to move inland. We have 10 years to get this under control.

By 2035, 75% of the buildings will be new (either newly built or renovated). Therefore this is the opportunity! If we design these future buildings and renovations to use significantly less energy, then we have really made a positive impact.

2030 Rules

• Cut energy consumption of buildings in half. The state of California has been a great role model for this.

• Cut energy consumption in half for renovations

• Now: New buildings –> 50% less energy consumption
2010 -> 60% less
2015 -> 70% less
2030 -> completely carbon neutral (no fossil fuel energy to operate building)

The 2030 Challenge

• Design & Innovation – passive solar heating, day-lighting, passive cooling, shading, building shape and orientation

• Add technology – solar water heaters, solar photovoltaics, wind micro turbines, geothermal, biomass, etc.

• Purchase green renewable energy (but should only be 20% or less – meaning that #3 should not be the only action taken)

Players

• ICLEI
• USGBC
• LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, created by the USGBC).The LEED certification has several levels; if the site-use energy consumption reduction is below 50%, they are Certified. If the reduction is 65% they get Silver; Gold is 80% and Platinum is 100% (Carbon Neutral).
• US Conference of Mayors

The message was to act locally and most importantly act now. I feel that a good channel for us to work towards along with this effort is by getting local city Mayors to sign the U.S. Mayor’s Climate Agreement.

II. Climate Protection at the Local Government Level

The U.S. Mayors’ Climate Agreement sets the goal of reducing citywide global warming carbon dioxide pollution to 7% below 1990 levels by the year 2012. The agreement was initiated by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. It was introduced on the same day that the Kyoto Protocol treaty took effect in 141 nations.

Backed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, more than 200 mayors in 38 states have signed on, pledging to reduce global warming carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution in their city to 7% below 1990 levels by the year 2012.

Excerpt from the U.S. Mayors’ Climate Agreement (also located here):

We will strive to meet or exceed Kyoto Protocol targets for reducing global warming pollution by taking actions in our own operations and communities such as:

1. Inventory global warming emissions in City operations and in the community, set reduction targets and create an action plan.
2. Adopt and enforce land-use policies that reduce sprawl, preserve open space, and create compact, walkable urban communities;
3. Promote transportation options such as bicycle trails, commute trip reduction programs, incentives for car pooling and public transit;
4. Increase the use of clean, alternative energy by, for example, investing in “green tags”, advocating for the development of renewable energy resources, recovering landfill methane for energy production, and supporting the use of waste to energy technology;
5. Make energy efficiency a priority through building code improvements, retrofitting city facilities with energy efficient lighting and urging employees to conserve energy and save money;
6. Purchase only Energy Star equipment and appliances for City use;
7. Practice and promote sustainable building practices using the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED program or a similar system;
8. Increase the average fuel efficiency of municipal fleet vehicles; reduce the number of vehicles; launch an employee education program including anti-idling messages; convert diesel vehicles to bio-diesel;
9. Evaluate opportunities to increase pump efficiency in water and wastewater systems; recover wastewater treatment methane for energy production;
10. Increase recycling rates in City operations and in the community;
11. Maintain healthy urban forests; promote tree planting to increase shading and to absorb CO2; and
12. Help educate the public, schools, other jurisdictions, professional associations, business and industry about reducing global warming pollution.

The Sierra Club is working with the a campaign called “Cool Cities” which helps cities turn their commitments into action by pushing for smart energy solutions. The three key common Cool City strategies are:

• Green Vehicle Fleets

• Energy Efficiency

• Renewable Energy

In North Texas, so far the mayors of Frisco, Dallas, Arlington, Hurst, Euless, McKinney and Denton have signed the Agreement. In the last few weeks, on group presented to the Richardson mayor and received promise that he would sign!

I presented a summary of the coal plants issue to the Dallas Alternative Energy group two weeks ago and posted this information at the forum there. Much of this comes from Smitty Smith’s presentation given at the Legislative Workshop in Austin a few weeks ago. You can get more background on this issue from the Dallas Green Zine article, More Coal Plants Coming to Texas?

There are several things that each of us can do.

TXU Action

• Communicate your disapproval to TXU. If you’re a TXU customer, when you send in your bill, write on your check: ‘Withdraw your proposed permits for the new coal plants and invest more in renewable energy. ‘ Communicate this message to: C. John Wilder, President and CEO of TXU Corporation, 1601 Bryan St., Dallas, TX 75201.

• Change your electric company. As a consumer, you can take your business somewhere else. Go to powertochoose.org and “comparison shop” for a better electric company. Some companies, such as Green Mountain Energy, offer plans that use “all green” or “partial green” power.

Local Action

At the local level, the Sierra Club’s Cool Cities initiative has been working to get more mayors to sign the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. As more mayors sign on, they can provide pressure on the coal plants issue as well. Currrently there are 18 mayors, representing one-third of the state’s population, who have expressed opposition to the coal plants proposal. But it will be governor appointees who will make the final decision.

Get involved with this issue at the mayoral level by participating in the Cool Cities effort. The Dallas Sierra Club is looking for volunteers to get more mayors on board with signing the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. For more information, go here and scroll down to ‘cool cities public education presentation’  or contact Ann Drumm at 214-350-6108.

Also, there are coal plant hearings coming up in the next two weeks. For more on this, see the Hearings page at StopTheCoalPlant.org.

Legislative Action

• Contact your state legislators. When the state legislature meets in January, one of the first things coming up within the first few days of meeting is to decide whether to accept TXU’s application for the Oak Grove plant. It is very important to get this blocked.

If you don’t know who your legislator is, click on Texas Legislature Online. On the right side of the page under Who Represents Me?, type in your zip code and click on the Submit button. You can view addresses and phone numbers of all your representatives there.

• Sign a petition asking Governor Perry and the State Legislature to delay the approval of these plants to allow time to consider alternatives. There is a petition currently at the Stop The Coal Plant site.

• Contact Governor Perry. Let Governor Perry know that cities such as Dallas are already in non-attainment for poor air quality and that we need a “clean air plan” to reduce global warming emissions. Let him also know that renewable energy instead of coal-fired power plants is where we need to lead Texas’ energy future. Write Governor Perry at PO. Box 12428, Austin, TX 78711 or fax at 512-463-1849.

Finally, you can get the resources below (in .pdf format) at this site by clicking here:

• What Can Legislators Do to Stop the Coal Rush?
• What Renewable Energy Means to Texas
• Map of Plant Locations
• Clean Coal Technology: How It Works (BBC article)

When you use electricity, where does it come from? Your electric company gets it from power plants, which generate their energy using coal, nuclear energy, hydro-electric, solar, or wind. Although Texas has more wind power than any other state, the largest electricity provider, TXU, and other providers get their energy primarily from coal.

Texas currently has 17 coal-fire power plants, which emit mercury, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, and particulate matter.

More than 1.5 million children live within 30 miles of these plants. This makes coal an unhealthy and cruel option for children growing up in Texas.   

• 1 out of 8 children will get asthma. Asthma is the leading reason why kids miss school (not the flu or cold).
• Children’s Medical Center in Dallas is the busiest hospital in the U.S., largely due to respiratory emergencies.
• Fine particles from power plants already cause 1,160 premature deaths per year.
• According to the UT Health Science Center in San Antonio, there is a 17% rise in autism for every 1000 pounds of mercury. (The new plants will add up to 4000 pounds of mercury emissions to our air.)

As if this isn’t bad enough, 18 additional coal-fire power plants are on their way and only one of them will be using the slightly cleaner ‘gasification’ process. This will result in 35 coal-based power plants.

These new plants will emit an additional 78 million tons of C02 and they will not be using the ‘clean coal technology’ or gasification which other states, such as Florida and Indiana use.

Some plants are using the dirtier lignite coal from east Texas; others will be using imported Powder River Basin coal from Wyoming.

Because TXU, the largest electricity provider, is pushing for 11 of these plants, residents across the state are protesting and requesting that TXU:

• withdrawal its request
• rewrite its new power plant permits to use gasification with sequestration which is the true form of ‘clean coal’ technology, and  
• invest more in renewable energy

However, Governor Rick Perry just recently signed an order to speed state approval of the coal-burning plants. It should be no surprise that Perry has received more than $100,000 in campaign contributions from interests associated with the coal-burning project. (See ‘Coal Plant Interests Give Perry $132,000‘ by Wayne Slater/Dallas Morning News and online at WFAA.)  

There are several things you can do. Click on What You Can Do About the Coal Plants for a specific list.