The Durham County Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory and Local Action Plan is a joint effort of the City of Durham, Durham County, and the DCHC MPO. The plan consists of an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions in the county, a forecast of 2030 emissions, an evaluation of measures to reduce emissions, and an implementation plan to achieve emission targets. The plan was adopted by the Durham City Council and the Durham County Board of Commissioners on September 19, 2007 and adopted by the Transportation Advisory Committee of the DCHC MPO on October 10, 2007. ICLEI Energy Services from Toronto, Canada was the consultant for the plan.

The City of Durham is a participant in ICLEI's Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) campaign. ICLEI is an organization of local governments committed to sustainability. The CCP campaign enlists cities to adopt policies and adopt measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. More than 150 cities, towns, and counties in the United States and over 600 municipalities worldwide participate in this campaign. The Durham County greenhouse gas plan will help the City fulfill its commitment to climate change mitigation. For more information on the CCP campaign, visit the ICLEI CCP Campaign website.

Community Target: 30% By 2030

The target for community greenhouse gas emissions is to reduce emissions by 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. Community emissions include emissions from all residences, businesses, and industries in Durham County. It also includes all transportation emissions from vehicles traveling on roads in Durham County.

Local Government Target: 50% By 2030!

The target for local government greenhouse gas emissions is to reduce emissions by 50 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. Local government emissions include emissions from the operations of the City of Durham, Durham County, and Durham Public Schools.

Implementation

The City and County hired a Sustainability Manager in 2008 to help implement the Greenhouse Gas Plan. Since that time, the Sustainability Office has worked with other departments and community organizations to reduce energy use including: creating the Neighborhood Energy Retrofit Program and Home Energy Savings Program, installing LEDs and other lighting retrofits, installing solar hot water systems at several fire stations, installing electric vehicle charging stations, and purchasing hybrid and electric vehicles.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions & the Transportation Planning Process

The DCHC MPO has included reducing greenhouse gas emissions as a goal of the Metropolitan Transportation Plan. Greenhouse Gas (Appendix 9) includes an analysis of how the plan affects greenhouse gas emissions. The DCHC MPO continues to look at ways to further integrate greenhouse gas emissions into the planning process.

Contact

You can contact:

Colleen McGue (DCHC MPO Planning Manager)
DCHC MPO
4307 Emperor Blvd
Durham, NC 27703
919-503-4115
Colleen.McGue@dchcmpo.org

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