17
• Massachusetts Renewable Portfolio Standard • Federal appliance standards • Federal and state low-carbon fuel standards • Federal and state vehicle mileage and greenhouse gas standards
Net Savings from Greenhouse Gas Reduction Measures
N E T CO S T
NET BENEFIT
($ per ton of reduction)
($ per ton of reduction)
-64
Low-Carbon and Renewable Fuel Standards
-64 Solid Waste Reduction 0
Renewable Portfolio Standard
81
Cool Roofs
132
Natural Gas Utility Efficiency Programs
137
Behavior Change—Transportation
137
Vehicle Mileage and GHG Standards
198
Bike Programs
198
Car Sharing
198
Mass Transit/Parking Programs
256 Oil Heat Efficiency Program 274 Anti-Idling 286 Behavior Change—Buildings 286 Benchmarking and Labeling 286 Energy Efficiency Retrofit Ordinances 323 Stretch Building Code or Equivalent 379 Electric Utility Efficiency Programs 430 Building Codes 430 Appliance Standards -150 -100
-50
0
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
UPDATE 2011
Altogether, these measures account for a third of the reductions necessary to meet the 2020 goal.
BO STO N C LI M AT E AC T I O N P LA N
Furthermore, policies that concentrate regional growth, residential and commercial, in Boston will contribute to the reduction of regional greenhouse gas emissions, because Boston, like most cities, has lower per capita greenhouse gas emissions than its suburbs. For its part, Boston City Government is employing smart growth policies and land use and transportation planning to enhance its economic, social, and cultural richness and its density, walkability, and transit; and municipal policies are congruent with the Commonwealth’s smart growth and clean transportation policies included in its new climate plan. City Government is working to develop a methodology to account for possible relative increases in its GHG emissions that produce greater regional reductions.
MITIGATION
The rest of this section—divided into four parts: Buildings, Transportation, Solid Waste and Recycling, and Municipal Operations—describes the steps that City Government is taking to implement the mitigation measures necessary to reach Boston’s 2020 GHGreduction goal. Measures whose implementation falls outside the three-year time frame of this update may not be discussed. Measures solely in the jurisdiction of federal and state governments, also not discussed, include:
Climate mitigation will also bring jobs. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts estimates that implementation of its plan will create 42,000 to 48,000 jobs in the entire state. City Government is establishing programs to ensure that Boston residents and businesses are prepared to take advantage of those job opportunities.