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On becoming carbon neutral by 2010

Largely overlooked in the recent communications fiasco surrounding the library, how energy efficient it is or isn't, and what it's costing to operate the building, was the municipality's commitment to become "carbon neutral" in 2010.

Largely overlooked in the recent communications fiasco surrounding the library, how energy efficient it is or isn't, and what it's costing to operate the building, was the municipality's commitment to become "carbon neutral" in 2010.

Two years ago Whistler signed on to the B.C. Climate Action Charter, a commitment by local governments to become carbon neutral in respect to municipal operations by 2012. Two weeks ago Whistler councillors agreed to a Carbon Neutral Operations plan that will make the RMOW carbon neutral by next year - two years ahead of the 175 other local governments in B.C. that have signed the charter and before any other local government in Canada.

The reasons for doing it early were laid out in the staff report to council. "It is the intent of this proposed Carbon Neutral Operations plan to accelerate this commitment to 2010 as an acknowledgement of the urgency of the climate crisis and its impact on our economic engines, to leverage this leadership into improved competitive positioning and brand lift relative to other tourism destinations, and to accelerate our own internal commitments to corporate emissions reductions."

The Climate Action Charter requires the RMOW to measure and report its annual greenhouse gas emissions, which it has been doing since 2000.

Specifically, Whistler is proposing to become carbon neutral through a series of measures that will reduce the 2,200 tonnes of CO2 produced annually by municipal operations by 10 per cent. The remaining 1,980 tonnes will be offset by purchasing carbon credits at $25/tonne, or $50,000 per year.

The timing, and what it will cost to become carbon neutral, is interesting. For starters, the statement in the staff report about leveraging "this leadership into improved competitive positioning and brand lift" suggests this is another example of the Olympics hastening action on something that might otherwise be delayed to a more convenient time.

The same paragraph from staff also refers to the urgency of the climate crisis. A United Nations report released last week showed climate change is happening faster than scientists thought even two years ago. It is largely up to governments to lead on this front, but the dithering that's been going on for weeks over a general agreement prior to December's climate conference in Copenhagen shows federal governments are anything but leaders on climate change.

Local governments' actions aren't enough to save the world, but they do set an example. South of the border, the U.S. Conference of Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement has seen the mayors of nearly 1,000 cities and towns agree to reduce carbon emissions in their communities below 1990 levels. In Europe, more than 700 communities have signed on to the Covenant of Mayors, a commitment to go beyond the objectives of the European Union energy policy in terms of reduction of CO2 emissions.

Whistler has decided to go beyond the terms of the Climate Action Charter when calculating its CO2 footprint by including all emissions generated by employee travel on staff business.

The concept of the Resort Municipality of Whistler claiming to be carbon neutral when the very premise for Whistler's existence is people traveling here, and emitting greenhouse gasses in the process, involves some mental gymnastics. It's a contradiction Whistler acknowledges with reference to its vision statement, "...as we move toward sustainability."

At the heart of striving to be carbon neutral is the $50,000 the municipality will purchase in carbon offset credits. That figure is expected to decline to $38,000 annually by 2015 when the municipality believes it will have reduced its emissions by 30 per cent.

There are two issues here: can you buy your way to carbon neutrality, and is that money well spent?

Whistler is proposing to purchase half its carbon offsets from the B.C.-based Pacific Carbon Trust and half from international projects that meet a Voluntary Gold Standard for certified offsets. Carbon offsets have become an industry in recent years, and for the sake of credibility standards have been established. Offsets must be independently validated and verified and must lead to real reductions in total greenhouse gas emissions.

The criteria for verification and validation under the Pacific Carbon Trust follows guidelines established by the ISO, the International Organization for Standardization. That should help mollify some doubters of the validity of carbon offsets. But if all 176 signatories to the B.C. Climate Action Charter start buying offsets in two years time there's going to be a lot of money flowing in this new market. Regulation is going to be crucial.

The second issue is the municipality spending $50,000 annually on offsets in the middle of three years of successive tax increases that will total 19 per cent. Taxpayers have heard a lot about declining hotel tax revenue and provincial downloading. Spending $50,000 on something taxpayers probably won't see or feel is a tough sell. Arguments that it's the price of two bus stop shelters or less than half of what the municipality provides the Whistler Arts Council annually don't work. It's $50,000 of taxpayers' money.

That number should decline over the years as the municipality reduces its carbon footprint through things such as the $900,000 retrofit of the Meadow Park Sports Centre, the RMOW's largest single source of greenhouse gases. Retrofitting buildings isn't cheap, but it's money well spent if it reduces operating costs and emissions.

And that's the key. Striving to become carbon neutral is the right thing to do. But taxpayers rightly want assurance the measures taken and the money spent is actually reducing greenhouse gas emissions.