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Posted on Thu, Apr 22, 2010 : 6:04 a.m.

What should be on Ann Arbor's environmental agenda going forward?

By Tina Reed

Forty years ago today, the first Earth Day was celebrated with teach-ins and demonstrations around the country demanding environmental change. 

A lot has changed in the last 40 years, but the goal of protecting and improving the environment has stayed the same and grown in urgency in recent years.

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Get Downtown program director Nancy Shore.

AnnArbor.com caught up with a few folks in town who keep a pulse on environmental goals in the city and asked what they think needs to rise to the top of the local environmental agenda in the next 40 years. Here's what they said:

Nancy Shore, program director for Get Downtown:

"I would like to see a commitment and investment in seeing people living and working closer together; more compact housing developments happening so people can walk or bike to their jobs. One of the biggest reasons people choose to drive is because they live too far away. I would like to see a commitment to creating more housing, more affordable hosuing closer to the downtown core to encourage more people to live here so they could reduce their carbon footprint. I'd like to see more rail options, more of a regional transportation system that’s countywide would be a great move forward to giving people more options …"

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Ann Arbor mayor John Hieftje.

John Hiefje, Ann Arbor mayor:

"A lot of it is continuing on the course we’re on. One of the big things that could affect Ann Arbor and the whole region is the east/west railway or the success of rail transit in general. We need to be looking, again, at that carbon-challenged future. Even with global warming factors aside, the price of energy is going to go up. It seems clear the price of energy is only going to go up, so we need to have strategies to prepare for that. Local agriculture is one facet of the sustainability challenge … and energy conservation is the forte of city government."

Terry Alexander, executive director of the University of Michigan's Office of Campus Sustainability:

"In my personal opinion, we need a balance between the environmental, the social and the economic side of this picture … If we’re looking at trying to capture all three of those areas we need to look at trying to find, and this is what a lot of our research is doing right now, a solution to the world's energy problem, and in the process create some start-up companies to help the local economy. And in the process, you’re helping the environment. Energy is probably the number one ticket we have to be concerned about."

Mike Shriberg, policy director at The Ecology Center:

"The top agenda item I would put up is a more comprehensive plan of action about how we're going to cut our carbon emissions by 80 percent in the next 40 years because it’s going to take at least that effort to stabilitze climate to a level at which humans can thrive. What I think is that opens up all kinds of opportunities, for instance, when it comes to local foods … As a community that’s where we need to put our focus."

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Ann Arbor food and agriculture activist Lisa Gottlieb.

Lisa Gottlieb, founder of Repasts, Present and Future organization promoting slow food and local agriculture:

"My interests are primarily around local food, local sustainable agriculture and reducing our carbon footprint. We can work on an individual basis, as families and at a community level. I think that's how things are going to get done … The local food summit promoted the 10 percent campaign to purchase 10 percent of all food in Washtenaw County in the next 10 years to increase jobs and the local food community. It's something people can do. It's the little things that make a difference in the long run."

Tina Reed covers health and the environment for AnnArbor.com. You can reach her at tinareed@annarbor.com, call her at 734-623-2535 or find her on Twitter @TreedinAA.

Comments

AnneB

Fri, Apr 30, 2010 : 10:15 a.m.

NOISE! The roar of the downtown at night is LOUD. We had our window in our bedroom open the other night (we live on the west side.) It was so loud, our son in the other room thought we had the television on. We need better sound ordinances - businesses should not have sound so loud you can hear it on the sidewalk. This should apply to people giving music lessons in residential neighborhoods, music clubs and fitness studios that find it necessary to broadcast fitness classes to passersby. Sorry VIE - love the inside, not a fan of the outside.

JeanneM

Fri, Apr 23, 2010 : 3:44 p.m.

Seems clear to me that the challenges we face are so complex that we need a variety of creative solutions at all levels. I love all the great hands-on community work that's happening in Ann Arbor and Ypsi. Lisa Gottlieb and Jeff McCabe's contributions through Repasts, with their diverse group of volunteers, give me hope for what's possible. Providing greater access to healthy, local food is an essential aspect of building a more just and resilient town, state, and country. Thanks to all the generous, committed people who aren't waiting for the government to do it for them--they're making it happen and building stronger communities in the process. Ypsi has a lot to teach us too. Check out Growing Hope!

hard core ann arborite

Thu, Apr 22, 2010 : 2:40 p.m.

Maybe our problems with sprawl in SE MI will lead to some more creative solutions. Significantly increased telecommuting (Google fiber?), for example, is one possibility, but it only works for some. Energy is certainly the big issue and, with maxed-out alternatives to fossil fuels representing 10-15% of our current usage by some accounts, there will be great pressure to do all of the above, with especially big changes in how and where we live and travel. I hate it that I can't find work in AA and must drive to somewhere East of I-275 every day, but it's part of an immense trade-off many of us have to make to get what we want for ourselves and our families. Maybe I will be forced to move and "take a hit" on my lifestyle. Important questions: Why isn't our whole country focused on finding new, ecologically-responsible energy sources? Why isn't fusion research, for example, going on in our major universities? And beyond that, why is the population explosion, surely at the root of all the problems we're discussing, never mentioned anywhere? It may be worst in the developing countries, but it affects everyone everywhere one way or another, perhaps first in higher energy prices and lost jobs. Polarized name-calling and stick-in-the-mud attitudes will not help, though (Robert M and DDOT). We need open minds and creative thinking to at least mitigate the decrease in our quality of life that seems inevitable in the coming years.

braggslaw

Thu, Apr 22, 2010 : 1:35 p.m.

I want rational decisions not "emotional" decisions based on Mother Earth principles. e.g. "It's natural so it must be better". E.g if it save energy to use compact flourescents and costs less money, let's do it. What I don't want to see is some type of white tower environmental purity standard that is financially inefficient and impossible to comply with.

John Q

Thu, Apr 22, 2010 : 1 p.m.

If gas is almost $3 a gallon with the economy being in the state it is in, I find it very plausible that we'll see a return to $4+ a gallon gas when the economy picks up again.

KJMClark

Thu, Apr 22, 2010 : 11:31 a.m.

Eyeheart - Yup, both typos. Shows you how often I buy gas (I bike to work). Should have been $3 and back to $4. Note that it was the housing crash that put a lid on oil prices though. Projections from Goldman Sachs before the housing crash put oil prices @ $200/barrel and gas over $5 per gallon by 2010. The worst recession since the great depression put a lid on that, but growth and demand are increasing strongly again. Robert - I live in Ann Arbor, work in Ann Arbor, and have no plan to do otherwise. I don't expect anyone to do anything, but it would be nice if someone who collects waste wood noticed that they could make money producing green energy and selling the by-products. I'd be happy to pay for the by-products, happy to pay a surcharge for the green energy, and happy to make an investment to help start it up. I'd really prefer you had absolutely nothing to do with it, believe me. And when it ends up making money I'd prefer you still have nothing to do with it.

lisa gottlieb

Thu, Apr 22, 2010 : 11:30 a.m.

Thanks for this article Tina, which clearly has struck a nerve for some readers. It's good to have a venue to discuss these important issues. It's impossible to capture the whole range of my environmental concerns in a small sound bite. I was asked by Tina to discuss one of my interests, not all of my interests. My energy and attention towards the local food movement doesn't mitigate other concerns I have about what our community needs to move in a positive direction. We have a long way to go as a community, and, local food is an important aspect of improving the quality of life for everyone, along with reducing our dependence on non-renewable resources, and creating affordable housing. I do find it bewildering to be accused of hiring anyone, low paid, or not, to pick greens for our Friday Breakfasts. Our organization relys completely on unpaid volunteers for everything we do, from harvesting greens from our own garden, to building four season hoop houses in Detroit so that low income residents with no access to grocery stores can have healthy, inexpensive greens and other vegetables year around. We're building them in Ann Arbor, too. I'm unsure what stimulates the hostility towards our volunteer efforts to improve food security, support the local economy by sourcing our food from nearby farmers, farm markets, mills and dairies, and in our work to build an inclusive community around healthy, locally grown and sourced food. Three times a day, many of us can make food choices that keep our dollars right here in Washtenaw County where they are needed. I invite you to learn more about our mission by taking a look at our website, repastspresentandfuture.org, to see what we have accomplished over the last year through the hard work and efforts of our dedicated volunteers. And, come around sometime for Friday breakfast. It would be great to share a conversation face to face.

just a homeowner

Thu, Apr 22, 2010 : 10:35 a.m.

I think the environmental agenda should be to not waste money and then not waste energy. Like...is the $1 million "fountain" going to use energy, or is all powered by gravity?

Top Cat

Thu, Apr 22, 2010 : 10:16 a.m.

Most of this equates to more government programs meaning more taxes to solve non-existent problems, i.e. man-made global warming. I guess All Fools Day happens twice in April.

BobbyJohn

Thu, Apr 22, 2010 : 9:19 a.m.

Before our municipalities spend millions of dollars to save energy, first pick the low hanging fruit. Such as the county building at Main and Ann streets that has exterior lighting on 24 hours/day. Even though I have reported it to the county numerous times over the years, nothing is done to save energy (and tax dollars). Same for AnnArbor city and the schools, wasting energy and not doing the simple, cost effective things. Take some real leadership.

KJMClark

Thu, Apr 22, 2010 : 8:27 a.m.

Robert, if you'd bother to read you'd see that I am willing to pay for the charcoal. I also didn't say we should wait for more housing, but rather that it's much faster to get a commuter rail system working. Further, not everyone *wants* to live in town. I'm not sure why you're so interested in forcing people to move. And if you want to get rid of subsidies and let the free market work, lets turn the expressways into toll roads and get the government out of the road building business. I take it you'd be in favor of that?

KJMClark

Thu, Apr 22, 2010 : 7:03 a.m.

One thing Robert and DDot are missing is that our energy cost problems are already here and likely to increase drastically in the next few years as the world economy recovers. It shouldn't be too long before we have another round of $5 per gallon gas. We're at $4/gal in most of the county already. We can get commuter rail in place much faster than we can build the equivalent amount of housing. And wake up DDot! Two of the big three just went bankrupt and SE Michigan has had one of the biggest housing crashes in the country because of that love of the auto and sprawl. Cars aren't going away, but the next decade isn't looking nearly so good for car-based sprawl as the last one. That bubble has burst. Time to move on.

KJMClark

Thu, Apr 22, 2010 : 6:55 a.m.

My family is starting a local organic farm and it would be *really* nice if some local municipality would make biochar. Look up terra preta. That would mean that some local city takes waste wood (like dead ashes, invasive trees, etc.), seasons it, chunks or chips it, produces wood gas to make electricity, and also makes charcoal as a by-product. I would *love* to buy about 10-20 tons of charcoal per year. That would go on our fields to be buried. So add that up. The city (or DTE for that matter) gets renewable, sustainable, GHG-free power that can balance electricity load with wind/solar. They also deal locally with a solid waste problem, instead of driving that wood up to Flint. I then buy some of the remaining "waste" - the charcoal. I take the charcoal to my farm and bury the charcoal, so it's long-term carbon sequestration. The charcoal improves my soil and increases my crop yields, and I bring the crops back to Ann Arbor as the local food three of the statements mention.

DDOT1962

Thu, Apr 22, 2010 : 6:40 a.m.

Wow, how about a big group hug from everyone. Then, these fuzzy, liberal ideas can become a warm, fuzzy feeling we all share... I agree with Robert M. that the one sensible comment came from Nancy Shore about creating more affordable housing in and close to the downtown, which is what makes city council's rejection of the Moravian an even bigger faux pas. I hope whomever replaces Hieftje as mayor doesn't share his same if-we-build-it-they-will-come attitude about rail service for Ann Arbor. Wake up, politicos! We live in SE Michigan, where the love of the automobile is second only to the love of the strip mall sprawl we've created that is completely unnavigable by rail!