xcel
11-21-2006, 12:41 PM
Mayor Ron Rordam has been reluctant to join a national pollution control coalition. (http://www.roanoke.com/news/nrv/wb/wb/xp-92490)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Prius_II_and_HiHy_on_the_HF_2006_lot_Sunday_morning.jpgTonia Moxley - Roanoke Times - Nov. 21, 2006
Prius II and HiHy replaced (2) conventional gas automobiles. The Prius alone cut about 12,000 pounds of CO2/year vs. its replacement.
BLACKSBURG - From the SUV in the garage to the heat pump humming outside the sitting room window, the home of Jeanne and Dave Roper looks very similar to any medium-sized Blacksburg house.
But it's different in one important way - the family in it produces significantly less carbon dioxide and other so-called greenhouse gases than many other households across the country.
And the retired Virginia Tech professors hope their efforts to reduce pollution will inspire others, especially the town government, to do more to cut emissions.
Human-initiated global warming is widely accepted among scientists as a major threat. Some postulate that climate change brought on by greenhouse gases will cause increasing drought, crop failures and extinctions of species.
Significant warming in the Arctic is already threatening polar bear populations and the native hunting cultures of the far North.
To help counteract these problems, the national Sierra Club has started a Cool Cities Across America program to encourage localities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
More than 300 cities and towns have signed the agreement, including a handful in Virginia.
Locally, the Ropers have used the program's pollution reduction guidelines to change their own lifestyle, becoming what they call a "cool family."
Many of the light bulbs in their house have been changed from conventional to more efficient compact fluorescent. Their heat pump is the most efficient they could find.
They walk and bicycle as much as possible. And when they can't avoid driving, they combine errands for efficiency.
The couple also traded their conventional cars for two hybrid vehicles, a Toyota Highlander sport utility vehicle and a Toyota Prius.
The Ropers haven't calculated their total greenhouse gas savings.
But buying the Prius alone cut by about 12,000 pounds per year the family's carbon dioxide production, according to Tech professor John Randolph.
And every 100 kilowatt hours the Ropers can shave off their electricity bill keeps 200 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, Randolph said.
Randolph teaches classes in environmental sustainability and serves on Blacksburg's utilities advisory committee.
To offset the electricity they must use, the Ropers donate money to a West Virginia company that produces electricity using windmills.
But Dave Roper calls all these changes "baby steps" and said the family plans to do more, including one day buying an electric car.
As part of their environmental mission, the Ropers are also lobbying Blacksburg Town Council to join the Sierra Club's Cool Cities coalition.
To join, localities must sign the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, which is a resolution calling on local, state and national governments to significantly reduce the pollution created in their borders.
"When you look at the cities on the list, these are places Blacksburg would want to model itself on," Jeanne Roper said.
They and other environmental advocates have called on Blacksburg Mayor Ron Rordam to join the mayors of Seattle, Boulder, Colo., and Charlottesville in signing.
In fact, Blacksburg already has in place an extensive pollution control program and was earlier this year commended by both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality for its initiatives.
But Rordam has been reluctant to join the Cool Cities coalition because signing the agreement could be construed as a criticism of the federal government.
"I think the town should stay away from taking positions on national issues," Rordam said last week. "We should always focus on local issues and what we can do."
He has instead suggested that the town write its own resolution that would commit council to most of the pollution reduction actions spelled out in the U.S. mayors agreement.
Council will discuss the resolution at its work session today at 11 a.m. at the Blacksburg Police Department.
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Prius_II_and_HiHy_on_the_HF_2006_lot_Sunday_morning.jpgTonia Moxley - Roanoke Times - Nov. 21, 2006
Prius II and HiHy replaced (2) conventional gas automobiles. The Prius alone cut about 12,000 pounds of CO2/year vs. its replacement.
BLACKSBURG - From the SUV in the garage to the heat pump humming outside the sitting room window, the home of Jeanne and Dave Roper looks very similar to any medium-sized Blacksburg house.
But it's different in one important way - the family in it produces significantly less carbon dioxide and other so-called greenhouse gases than many other households across the country.
And the retired Virginia Tech professors hope their efforts to reduce pollution will inspire others, especially the town government, to do more to cut emissions.
Human-initiated global warming is widely accepted among scientists as a major threat. Some postulate that climate change brought on by greenhouse gases will cause increasing drought, crop failures and extinctions of species.
Significant warming in the Arctic is already threatening polar bear populations and the native hunting cultures of the far North.
To help counteract these problems, the national Sierra Club has started a Cool Cities Across America program to encourage localities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
More than 300 cities and towns have signed the agreement, including a handful in Virginia.
Locally, the Ropers have used the program's pollution reduction guidelines to change their own lifestyle, becoming what they call a "cool family."
Many of the light bulbs in their house have been changed from conventional to more efficient compact fluorescent. Their heat pump is the most efficient they could find.
They walk and bicycle as much as possible. And when they can't avoid driving, they combine errands for efficiency.
The couple also traded their conventional cars for two hybrid vehicles, a Toyota Highlander sport utility vehicle and a Toyota Prius.
The Ropers haven't calculated their total greenhouse gas savings.
But buying the Prius alone cut by about 12,000 pounds per year the family's carbon dioxide production, according to Tech professor John Randolph.
And every 100 kilowatt hours the Ropers can shave off their electricity bill keeps 200 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, Randolph said.
Randolph teaches classes in environmental sustainability and serves on Blacksburg's utilities advisory committee.
To offset the electricity they must use, the Ropers donate money to a West Virginia company that produces electricity using windmills.
But Dave Roper calls all these changes "baby steps" and said the family plans to do more, including one day buying an electric car.
As part of their environmental mission, the Ropers are also lobbying Blacksburg Town Council to join the Sierra Club's Cool Cities coalition.
To join, localities must sign the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, which is a resolution calling on local, state and national governments to significantly reduce the pollution created in their borders.
"When you look at the cities on the list, these are places Blacksburg would want to model itself on," Jeanne Roper said.
They and other environmental advocates have called on Blacksburg Mayor Ron Rordam to join the mayors of Seattle, Boulder, Colo., and Charlottesville in signing.
In fact, Blacksburg already has in place an extensive pollution control program and was earlier this year commended by both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality for its initiatives.
But Rordam has been reluctant to join the Cool Cities coalition because signing the agreement could be construed as a criticism of the federal government.
"I think the town should stay away from taking positions on national issues," Rordam said last week. "We should always focus on local issues and what we can do."
He has instead suggested that the town write its own resolution that would commit council to most of the pollution reduction actions spelled out in the U.S. mayors agreement.
Council will discuss the resolution at its work session today at 11 a.m. at the Blacksburg Police Department.