Sep 18
Do you hate bad air days? We do too. Luckily, there are more and more options for cleaner transportation in Salt Lake City from Ride With Hive to the Live Electric EV & E-Bike discount program, a deal worth looking into if you have ever considered purchasing an electric vehicle.
by Brooke Taylor
As our readers know, one of SLCgreen’s core goals is to help you adopt tips and practices to make your life more sustainable. Whether that’s reducing your contribution to air pollution, learning how to eat more local food, or understanding what to recycle, all of us have a role to play in making Salt Lake City a more sustainable place to live.
That goes for our own operations as well. One of the major areas of focus for SLCgreen (as the City’s Sustainability Department is known) is helping SLC Corporation adopt best practices when it comes to those same sustainability measures we ask of our community.
That’s why we’re delighted to share with you some elements of our new internal Sustainability Policy, signed in January 2017 by Mayor Biskupski.
This policy affects Salt Lake City’s approximately 3,000 government employees, the community as a whole, our vendors, and the supply chains emanating from those vendors. By vowing to practice the best sustainable methods in all operations from prohibiting Styrofoam cups in break rooms, to carefully tracking our buildings’ energy usage, SLC is setting a community standard—a green standard.
We’d like to note that many of the guidelines in the Sustainability Policy were already in effect through various executive orders and policies, but this is the first time the best practices have been consolidated and turned into a comprehensive document.
If you’d like to read the whole policy, you can find it here.
Otherwise, read on for highlights . . . Read more
Are you waiting for the right time to buy a low-emission vehicle? Are you interested in helping clean the air and save money?
We’re excited to let you know that a new bulk purchase program for electric vehicles is BACK! (The last one, U Drive Electric, put 127 cleaner cars on the road in three months!)
ZOOm Go Electric is the newest discount program to launch. It runs from now through May 31, so get on it soon.
According to a 2013 analysis conducted by SWEEP and Utah Clean Energy “all electric” vehicles produce 99% lower emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), 95% less sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions, 76% less nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions as compared to a new gasoline vehicle. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles reduces emissions significantly as well. Read more
Salt Lake City Publishes Plan to Tackle Climate Change and Carbon Pollution
Climate Positive plan prioritizes regional collaboration, community participation, and innovation to reduce pollution and enhance local resilience to warming temperatures.
Salt Lake City has released a comprehensive plan entitled Climate Positive 2040, detailing ways the Capitol City will sustain its leadership role in addressing climate change.
Mayor Biskupski charges up an electric vehicle using one of the 28 new Level 2 EV charging ports located across Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski and DAQ Director Bryce Bird announced Wednesday the addition of 28 new electrical vehicle charging ports across the city.
The new “smart” Level 2 EV charging stations are located at 12 sites—new and existing—across Salt Lake City and have replaced five older units.
Locations include the International Peace Gardens in Jordan Park, Sorenson Multicultural Center, Sunnyside Avenue near Hogle Zoo, Pioneer Park, the Forest Dale Golf Course, and more.
SLCgreen is proud to be a part of the 8th annual Intermountain Sustainability Summit. Our Department Director Vicki Bennett and City Energy Project Advisor Wendy Lee will be speaking on the 17th. To register for the Summit click here to view student and professional registration rates.
The new bike share program in Las Vegas was a highlight at the Western Adaptation Alliance meeting this week. Bina Skordas, Sustainability Program Manager for Park City Municipal Corporation, takes one for a spin!
With huge changes in national-level politics lately, it’s worth remembering that cities continue to remain key players in policy development and implementation on many fronts. Climate change is no exception.
Cities have a critical responsibility to ensure our infrastructure is up-to-the task of dealing with new weather patterns, extreme events, and more; and that our neighborhoods and economic systems are ready for the changes coming their way because of climate change. We have residents to care for, roads and storm water systems to protect, and services to keep on-line.
Cities also have the ability to walk-our-talk– taking measures to reduce our emissions and overall impact on the environment.
All of these are reasons why cities are effective actors for dealing with some of society’s most difficult problems; and why networks–with cities at the heart– are some of the most effective ways to do so.
In that spirit, we’d like to share with you a few of the ways we’re engaging in several local and regional climate-related networks to create a more resilient future:
Earlier this week, our Program Manager Tyler Poulson and Communications Manager Sophia Nicholas traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada to meet with sustainability staff from nearby cities to discuss climate adaptation strategies for the Southwest and Intermountain west.
This “peer-exchange” was funded entirely by a grant and involved municipal staff from cities in Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.
The purpose: When so much of the climate adaptation conversation revolves around sea-level rise (and justifiably so), this group, called the Western Adaptation Alliance (WAA), formed to discuss and learn from each other on preparing our communities for the unique climate threats facing the arid west.
This year’s annual WAA meeting saw a re-invigoration of our commitment to working at the city-level to prepare for these risks. Read more
