Development of a climate action plan for metro Louisville, Kentucky

In 2005 the Mayor of Louisville signed the U.S. Conference of Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement (CPA) which specified the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) to levels set by the Kyoto Protocol. Louisville's GHG emissions reduction efforts are being led by the Partnership for a Green City (PGC). The PGC established a Climate Change Committee (CCC) to develop strategies and recommendations to achieve the goals of the Mayor's CPA. The Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District chaired the CCC, provided staffing, and a centralized location to archive documents. The CCC established seven working groups to carry out the principal work of developing strategies and recommendations to achieve the goals of the CPA. Within each working group relevant stakeholders were identified and requested to provide data and information to address the task for that working group. Specific recommendations from each working group were collated into a final report to be presented to the Mayor in April 2009. The report identified seven overarching recommendations integral to meeting the PGC's greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals and prepared a climate action plan (Climate Action Report to the Partnership for a Green City) to serve as blueprint for GHG reduction for Louisville. This talk will review the PGC, describe the process of establishing the CCC and identifying stakeholders, outline methods used in developing the specific recommendations, and review the actions recommended for GHG emission mitigation and adaptation for Louisville.