County Executive Jim Smith wants to “green” Baltimore County by reducing its carbon footprint by 10 percent by 2012.

Smith, along with David Carroll, county director of the Office of Sustainability, and Pat Brady, a master’s degree candidate at Towson University, announced the goal at a Nov. 21 news conference.

“Our first step will be to get our own house in order,” Smith said.

The goal does not include targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with residential and business use. Smith said many local businesses are already a part of the county’s Sustainability Network, the commission that recommended the 10 percent reduction.

The county will also set up a Web site that residents can use to gauge greenhouse gas emissions at home and that will provide recommendations for making reductions.

It’s estimated that county government buildings, vehicle fleets and street and traffic lights were responsible for approximately 142,700 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in 2006, according to a study performed for the county by Brady
.
He said the results were similar to emissions associated with government operations in Annapolis and in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina.

Brady’s study estimates the county’s overall greenhouse gas output at 11.5 million tons yearly. The county’s reduction goals would equal about one-tenth of 1 percent of the county’s total greenhouse gas emissions each year.

A soon-to-be revised version will include school buildings, which were not included in the initial study. The revision is also expected to show increases in greenhouse gas emissions associated with county government operations.

Exactly how the county will accomplish its goal in the next three years and how much the project will cost remain unknown. A group of county officials, private citizens and local business leaders, known as the Sustainability Network, will have until May to come up with a plan, Carroll said.

The Office of Sustainability and the Maryland Sierra Club will jointly host a public forum on the mission and objectives of the county’s newly formed Sustainability Network. This informational session will be held Tuesday, Dec. 2, from 7-9 p.m. at Towson Unitarian Universalist Church, 1710 Dulaney Valley Road.

Bryan P. Sears is political editor for Patuxent Publishing Co.’s Baltimore County newspapers.

---

user comments (0)