Our Sustainable Future - CSU, Chico

Cities are at the heart of the problem of global warming, given that they produce 78 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions. But because urban areas are where most people live and work, changes made by citizens of the world’s cities just might provide the solution.

That’s the position of many city leaders, including the Chico City Council, which last November signed on to the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.

CSU, Chico’s Ann Schwab, vice mayor for the city of Chico and a long-time member of the University’s Sustainability Committee, will lead the 15-member Sustainability Task Force appointed by the Chico City Council to study local climate change issues and to suggest possible actions.

Under the climate protection agreement, participating cities agree to try to “meet or beat” Kyoto Protocol emission targets—achieving a 7 percent reduction in greenhouse gases from 1990 levels by 2012—through actions ranging from public information campaigns and urban reforestation to anti-sprawl land-use policies and improved transit options. In addition, these cities will urge the U.S. Congress to pass bipartisan greenhouse gas reduction legislation to establish a national emission trading system.

“When Robert F. Kennedy came to speak here [at CSU, Chico], he pointed out that saving the environment isn’t for the birds and fishes—it’s for people,” Schwab says. “So we need to look at situations that have an impact on climate change from that perspective—sustaining our existence. We’re just taking care of business.”

Most of the issues that the city’s Sustainability Task Force will address are listed in the climate change agreement, Schwab points out.

“It’s all outlined well. We know our tasks and missions. There are 12 primary points to address, from taking a look at the greenhouse gas situation in city operations and the community to improving energy efficiency, expanding transit alternatives, and educating the public.

“It will be a challenge. But as Larry Wahl [fellow city council member] says, ‘When you get people together talking about the same thing, lots of good ideas will float to the top.’ I’m counting on that!”

Though the City of Chico will also be reviewing and updating its general plan during the same time frame, the two processes won’t directly interact, Schwab says, “Though I do expect that many of the ideas and proposals coming forward from the Sustainability Task Force will enrich the general plan process.”

Just how the task force will organize itself and move ahead will be decided once its members are officially appointed and have the opportunity to meet, expected in March. Each member of the city council will appoint one member to the task force, and Mayor Andy Holcombe will appoint an additional eight members “representing stakeholders from the business, university, and environmental communities.”

More so than many other locales, Schwab points out, the greater Chico community has many “sustainability successes” to point to already—including the fact that Chico boasts the nation’s largest solar tracking facility at a wastewater treatment plant; lower energy, high pressure sodium vapor lights; and a 61 percent landfill diversion rate, exceeding the 50 percent goal mandated by the California Integrated Waste Management Act.

Thanks to the city’s compost facility, Chico annually collects and composts approximately 16,000 tons of green waste from commercial, residential, and city-owned properties. Chico was voted the number-one bike town in the country some years ago, and is currently recognized as a “bronze level” city by the League of American Cyclists.

In addition to its other sustainability efforts, Chico’s Sierra Nevada Brewery recently completed one of the nation’s largest fuel cell installations.  These four 250-kilowatt co-generation fuel cell power units supply electric power and heat for the brewery. The brewery also uses methane generated from the anaerobic digestion of the wastewater contents to power boiler and electrical generation. Also within the city limits, North Star Engineering recently built the first LEED Certified building north of Sacramento.

California State University, Chico has also made a significant commitment to sustainability by adding a sixth strategic priority to its strategic plan—recognizing the need to educate environmentally literate citizens. In addition to many other accomplishments and changes now in progress, CSU, Chico’s new Student Services building will be the first in the CSU system constructed to meet LEED standards.

Ann Schwab is assistant director of Community Action Volunteers in Education (CAVE) and co-owner of Campus Bicycles in downtown Chico. In addition to other community commitments, she is treasurer of the Chico Velo bicycling club, a KCHO public radio volunteer, and member of the KCHO Capital Campaign Committee. She has been a member of the Chico City Council since 2004, previously served on the Bidwell Park and Playground Commission, and was co-chair of the Bidwell Park Centennial Committee. On campus, she has been a member of the Academic Senate, chaired the CSU, Chico Staff Council, and is a current member of the Rawlins Environmental Professorship Advisory Committee.

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