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Climate Change and Transportation The average Berkeley household uses enough energy and products to create more than 21,000 pounds of greenhouse gas each year. Energy and related resources consumed in Berkeley cause about 875,000 tons of greenhouse gas (carbon dioxide equivalent) emissions each year. The City of Berkeley is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Berkeley. The following is the Executive Summary of Berkeley's Resource Conservation and Global Warming Abatement Plan. For more information, please call the Berkeley Energy Office at 510-981-5434. Executive Summary The City of Berkeley has joined a group of cities around the world that has pledged to reduce the release of greenhouses gases within their communities. Greenhouse gases are produced by consumption and disposal of resources and are an indicator of general environmental impact, as well as the cause of global warming. Global warming is predicted to occur as the concentrations of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, build up in the atmosphere and trap heat. Scientists predict that global warming will change the climate significantly and may lead to decreases in agricultural output, regional water shortages, rising sea level, and more extreme weather patterns. The purpose of this project is to develop a City of Berkeley plan to improve the efficiency of natural resource use to the extent that is feasible and can fit with other general City planning goals. This plan is about how to achieve a vision of a prosperous, vital, and environmentally friendly economy for the City of Berkeley. This effort is funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Energy, International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) Cities for Climate Protection Program, and the City of Berkeley. This report presents short descriptions of 103 initiatives (including 38 new and 48 expanded initiatives) to reduce natural resource use and global warming. For a subset of these strategies, implementation plans are provided and greenhouse gas emission reductions associated with these efforts are also quantified. In addition, this report documents current City of Berkeley environmental programs related to resource conservation. Different divisions within the City have already developed and implemented a wide range of innovative environmental programs. The City of Berkeley’s goal is to reduce its impact on global warming by 15 percent in the year 2010 using strategies identified in this report. This is twice the projected increase of 7.5% in the baseline forecast. The goal is allocated according to global warming contribution as shown in the table below:
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