Opinion Opinion |
The Climate Action Collaborative for Eagle County Communities and Eagle County have released the 2022 Eagle County Energy Inventory, which states that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions rose 6% in 2022 from the 2014 baseline. Communities across Eagle County have set a goal to reduce GHG emissions 50% by 2030 and 80% by 2050.
“Despite the increase in greenhouse gas emissions, the Climate Action Collaborative and its partners have been making significant progress on the priority actions found in the Eagle County Climate Action Plan” said Gina McCrackin, Climate Action Collaborative Project Manager.
Indeed, one of the biggest successes found within the Energy Inventory was that emissions from electricity have been reduced by 38% since 2014, largely due to the work of Holy Cross Energy. Holy Cross anticipates providing 90% renewable energy by the end of 2025.
To take advantage of the increase in renewable energy, the Climate Action Collaborative led an effort to make new homes and commercial buildings more energy-efficient than before by helping communities adopt the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), including supporting amendments, such as electric vehicle readiness. The 2021 IECC will reduce energy consumption by 9.3% compared to the previous energy code.
Local governments are also taking advantage of cleaner electricity to build local resilience to future natural disasters. “Hardening our local electric grid with solar and storage capacity will be very helpful when responding to future wildfires,” said Geoff Grimmer, Eagle Town Council member and Climate Action Collaborative board chair. “It allows cell tower backup, emergency shelter power, and even the electricity needed to pump gas. All new construction should be weighing the value of these new technologies — for their project and for their community.”
Coinciding with the local electricity supply becoming cleaner, the Climate Action Collaborative is leading the dramatic increase in EV (electric vehicle) adoption seen across the county. In 2014, there were 28 EVs and zero EV charging stations in Eagle County. 10 years later, there are over 1,400 EVs on the road, over 180 Level-2 charging ports, and 40 Level-3 fast chargers in the county. These numbers will only continue to increase each year.
“The emissions reduction from the projects we’re working on right now will not be seen immediately,” said Gina McCrackin. “Instead, we’re setting ourselves up to see a reduction in emissions in future Energy Inventories.”
Looking into the future, there is even more to do to meet the aggressive emissions reduction goals that have been set for Eagle County. In the next couple of years, the Climate Action Collaborative and its partners plan to assist communities with adopting even more energy-efficient building codes, including an all-electric new construction code. The Climate Action Collaborative also hopes to work with communities to pass a large-building energy benchmarking ordinance, increase access to curbside compost, and increase the number and availability of EV charging stations. These new initiatives will build off the progress that has already been made and will measurably reduce emissions in Eagle County.
“Compared to communities with no plan, we’ve made tremendous progress in Eagle County towards our climate goals,” said Matt Scherr, Eagle County Commissioner and Climate Action Collaborative board member. “This report highlights what we have known and must now embrace: to succeed we must do more, we must make difficult decisions, and we must include everyone in the benefits [of] our success.”
Will Barror is the Climate Action Collaborative coordinator at Walking Mountains. The Climate Action Collaborative is working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Eagle County 50% by 2030 and 80% by 2050.
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