Meet the Bagman for Crime Inc – Your Local Government

Everyone knows the best tuned criminal gang needs a bagman. Well before the Crime Inc. guys made environment and climate their holy grail for wealth transfer and implementing their Global Governance campaign; the BAGMAN was already at work for them.

In 1990 a group called International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) was formally established in Toronto, Canada with assistance from Maurice Strong and the United Nations. ICLEI set their sights on your city council. They tried several schemes and figured out that they needed to mange their messaging to sell the local city officials. Sustainable Growth was their first choice and Smart Growth works well too.

ICLEI's Golden Bullet:
A lethal compound of land use, environment, and climate change launched in 1993.

A Global Campaign to Slow Earth’s Warming Trend and Improve Local Air Quality and Urban Livability, The Cities for Climate Protection™ (CCP) Campaign works with over 365 cities, towns, and counties worldwide to reduce the emissions that contribute to global warming and air pollution. By the end of 1999, municipalities in the CCP Campaign collectively accounted for approximately 7 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, nearing the CCP target to recruit cities who together account for 10 percent of global anthropogenic emissions.

But wait there is more!

With their accelerated growth in membership due to the Cities for Climate Protection, ICLEI launched another money making enterprise to further embed them with your local cities. Since 1996, ICLEI Energy Services (IES) has provided technical services to support local governments in implementing the commitments made through ICLEI’s CCP (Cities for Climate Protection) campaign and related projects. By providing technical energy planning services, IES continues to bridge the gap between local governments’ commitments to action and the private sector products and services needed for them to realize their goals.

The infrastructure is in place and the local stage is set for Crime Inc. to pass Cap and Trade.

Enter California and AB 32 - 2006

Always taking the lead, California passed the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB32). ICLEI paved the way with the cities, and California's State Cap and Trade is the pilot for the country. State requirements for greenhouse gas reduction has pushed California cities to ICLEI to get their GHG inventory done to comply with state deadlines. California cities are paying fees to ICLEI (see City of Santa Clara document attached) and wasting hours of city employees' time to complete their GHG plans. Maybe that's why there is no time or money to fix those pesky pot holes.

STOP!!

The campaign to suspend AB 32’s global-warming regulations until California’s economy and unemployment recovers submitted double the signatures needed in May, 2010 (800,000) to qualify the “California Jobs Initiative” Proposition 23  for the November ballot. This initiative is widely supported and expected to pass in November, 2010.

UPDATE: ICLEI appears on the list of supporters to DEFEAT California's Proposition 23.

California needs to speak up and push the state to suspend city spending and wasted city employee hours on climate change until after November's election.

City of Santa Clara and ICLEI agreement appears below. Note final page with fees defined.

 
Silicon Valley Climate Protection Partnership Proposal
Government Operations Emissions Inventory Assistance

 
In response to interest expressed by Silicon Valley area local governments over the past several months, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) and Sustainable Silicon Valley (SSV) hereby propose to provide assistance toward the development of greenhouse gas emissions inventories of government operations for Silicon Valley local governments.

Developing a government operations emissions inventory requires data gathering, analysis and report development. Some government operations data needs may be filled by data currently being pre-gathered by ICLEI and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Other data will require internal coordination with various departments (e.g., fleet fuel consumption).

By developing government operations emissions inventories for a large number of local governments simultaneously using a shared data analysis year and emissions factor set, it is possible for ICLEI and SSV to achieve an economy of scale and reduce associated costs significantly. ICLEI and SSV estimate a total project cost of approximately $260,000 to develop 20 local government operations emissions inventories, plus individual membership/partnership fees associated with ICLEI and SSV from each participating local government.

ICLEI and SSV are open to executing one contract with the group of participating local governments organized by the Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network (JVSVN), or a series of contracts with individual participants executed in coordinated fashion. The partners look to JVSVN to coordinate initial participation of the local governments in order to maximize service delivery efficiency and reduce costs.

ICLEI and SSV encourage local governments with the capacity to perform some or all of this work in-house to do so. Local governments who desire more individual services, such as analyzing additional years of data, quantifying the emissions benefits of implemented actions, or developing emissions reduction plans, for example, would each have the option of doing so under separate cover.

Many Silicon Valley area local governments have recently made progress on community-scale emissions inventories via training provided by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and ICLEI; through the partnerships of some reporting emissions results to Sustainable Silicon Valley; and/or through separate activities. For each participating local government, completing a government operations emissions inventory, as well, would represent achieving the first Milestone of ICLEI’s 5 Milestone methodology – a simple, standardized way to effectively reduce, measure, and verify greenhouse gas emissions. ICLEI has developed software tools that help cities comply with the Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) methodology. The Five Milestones are:
          Milestone 1 – Conduct a baseline emissions inventory and forecast
          Milestone 2 – Adopt an emissions reduction target
          Milestone 3 – Develop a local Climate Action Plan
          Milestone 4 – Implement policies and measures
          Milestone 5 – Monitor and verify results

This proposal by ICLEI and SSV offers to help participating local governments begin the Milestone process, working towards the regional SSV CO₂ emissions reduction target while building capacity and momentum toward additional climate protection activities. This systematic process will enable local governments to achieve their greenhouse gas emission reduction targets in the most cost-effective manner possible and achieve the greatest return on their investment.

Project Objective

Generate a government operations emissions analysis report for each local government for a common analysis year (2005).

Scope of Work

Coordinated with all Participating Local Governments

• Kickoff meeting to explain project concept, data requirements, deliverables, responsibilities
• Debrief meeting to present results, train all participants on methodology, software functionality

Per Participating Local Government

• Data specification
• Data collection (including employee commute/travel survey)
• Data conditioning
• Data input and analysis using Clean Air and Climate Protection (CACP) software
• Analysis of data results
• Report development
• Provision of backup source data and CACP software data
• ICLEI and SSV membership services (see Appendix A)

Not Included in This Proposal

• Pre-certification or full certification of local government emissions data with California Climate Action Registry (third party certification would be required)
• Project recruitment, update, or results presentations at city council meetings or similar
• More than one data analysis year
• Data analysis for a year other than 2005
• Community-scale emissions analysis
• Analysis of minor (de minimis) emissions sources where data gathering is prohibitive

Local Government Operations Emissions Sources

Data needs and expected sources for this project are presented in the table below. In cases where primary data sources are incomplete, secondary sources may be used to augment or completely substitute for primary data sources. Potential estimation methods are indicated for cases where neither primary nor secondary sources are readily available. In addition to the essential data included in the table below, a variety of indicator data will also be collected for benchmarking purposes where local government staff are able to provide it. This will include square footage of facilities, number of employees in each building, hours of operation, amount of water or wastewater processed, etc., enabling additional levels of data analysis and future comparability.

  Table 1. Local Government Operations Emissions Sources

Project Costs

• Becoming a partner of SSV and member of ICLEI separately is required of each participating local government. Annual SSV partnership dues for any pledging government agency are currently $1,000 per year per local government. ICLEI annual membership dues are based on population and start at $600 per year for communities of up to 50,000 people (see Appendix B for further information).
• Average additional project-related costs of $13,000 per local government, pending discussion of contracting method.

This cost proposal is contingent on the following criteria:

• Minimum of 20 local governments participating to initiate the contract.
• Shared data analysis year (2005 is recommended) for all participating local governments.
• Project anticipated to begin late 2007, with the bulk of project labor to occur in 2008.
• Written agreement before project execution by all data providers (e.g., electric and gas utilities, regional transportation planning agencies, waste management boards, local governments) to the project partners facilitated by ICLEI, SSV and JVSVN to make all needed consumption data and coefficients available in a timely manner.
• JVSVN responsible for all recruitment of local governments into this project.
• JVSVN responsible for non-labor costs associated with the two included in-person project meetings (e.g., space, refreshments).
• Each participating local government must become a member of both ICLEI and SSV at standard membership rates.
• Each participating local government must assign two representatives to be liaisons to ICLEI and SSV, one staff and one elected leader.
• Each participating local government must provide adequate staff support related to the collection of data (estimated at average of 20-40 hours per local government).
• The mayor or other high level official must distribute a letter indicating to appropriate department staff that assistance in this project is an important priority. (ICLEI and SSV will provide a template for this letter.)

Project Deliverables                                 

Shared Deliverables for all Participating Local Governments

• Project kickoff meeting
• Project debrief meeting, including training on government operations emissions inventory development [1]
• Monthly Meetings and Quarterly Forums customized to meet local government needs
• Access to relevant technical and cost information through SSV, useful for prioritizing specific CO₂ reduction projects on a cost-effective basis

Deliverables Per Local Government

• Government operations emissions inventory report
• CACP software data backup
• Data analysis input files
• Description of emissions analysis methodology
• Standard SSV member benefits and standard ICLEI membership benefits (see Appendix A)
• Public recognition for participation by each local government in this project via the SSV Annual Report, SSV Annual Report Release Event, and related media coverage

Optional Deliverable Not Included in This Cost Proposal

• Second government operations data analysis year
  

Project Schedule

Project Team

The project team will consist of staff from ICLEI, under the management of Director of Programs Garrett Fitzgerald, and SSV, under the management of Executive Director Rick Row. Details on how the work will be divided between the two organizations will be provided pending further discussion of the content of this proposal. Below is additional information on these two organizations.

ICLEI

Since 1993, ICLEI U.S.A., a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation, has been working with local governments to improve global environmental conditions through cumulative local leadership and action. Through performance-based campaigns and initiatives, ICLEI’s U.S. office provides local governments with technical expertise and policy assistance as well as access to a valuable national peer network. In the United States, ICLEI is a growing association of local governments (over 40% growth in 2006) dedicated to climate protection and sustainable development with a strong national presence. ICLEI works with these local governments to push the boundaries of traditional leadership in the US and achieve stronger, accelerated movement toward sustainability goals through measured performance and tangible results.

In addition to providing base levels of technical assistance to all of its local government members for over 14 years, ICLEI has also provided enhanced technical assistance toward the completion of inventories and action plans for a significant number of local governments in the style of this proposed project.

ICLEI has recently completed a project with Alameda County, California, working with 11 municipal governments as well as the County government to develop greenhouse gas emissions inventories for each participant, as well as a local climate action plan template. ICLEI worked with each municipality to identify emissions reduction strategies that were appropriate for the region and facilitated three regional workshops to enhance the regional focus of the initiative. In addition, ICLEI assisted in the development of outreach and public relations materials to increase community awareness of the climate protection initiatives.

ICLEI is currently engaged in several similar projects, providing enhanced technical services for Menlo Park, CA; Haverford, PA; and Bellevue, WA. In each of these cases ICLEI staff is working closely with local staff to develop an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions that meets the needs of the local government.

Sustainable Silicon Valley

Sustainable Silicon Valley (SSV), begun in 2001 and an independent non-profit 501(c)3 corporation since 2004, is a collaboration of businesses, governments, and non-governmental organizations that are identifying and addressing environmental and resource pressures in the Valley. Its mission is to work with the Silicon Valley community to create a more sustainable future using an environmental management system (EMS), which provides a systematic approach to achieve desired environmental targets, such as CO₂ emissions reductions.

As its first initiative, SSV engages prominent Valley organizations to work towards a goal of reducing regional carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions 20% below 1990 levels by 2010 SSV facilitates strategies to reduce CO₂ emissions through increased energy and fuel efficiency and through the use of renewable sources of energy. SSV partners pledge to help meet SSV’s regional target, set their own individual targets, report their progress, share information and mentor one another in quarterly educational forums and monthly meetings. SSV recognizes results in its Annual CO₂ Report and at its Annual Report Release Event.

SSV municipal partners include the Cities of Morgan Hill, Palo Alto, San Mateo, San Jose, Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale, the Towns of Los Altos Hills and Portola Valley, and San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. SSV works with these municipalities to mentor and educate new partners, providing tools and resources to support these organizations. Quarterly educational forums have provided proven CO₂ reduction strategies from experts since 2004.

Appendix A.

Organizational Membership/Partnership Benefits

 
ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability

• Personalized orientation to the CCP Campaign, including an overview of the process for establishing an emissions baseline and developing a local climate action plan;
• Hands-on training in the use of ICLEI’s Clean Air and Climate Protection Software;
• Basic ongoing technical support (estimated at 2 hours/month) in the use of the software and protocols for emissions quantification;
• Access to case studies, local government network participants, sample resolutions, and policy documents;
• Opportunities to participate in ICLEI’s series of virtual training sessions on best practices and new tools in sustainability planning and climate protection;  
• Notice of funding opportunities and assistance in matching with appropriate sources of funds;
• Membership in the network of worldwide local government representatives who are tackling similar environmental and management issues and who meet at workshops, seminars, and conferences around the world, and through electronic conferences on the website; and,
• Invitation and travel to national and international events, supported by ICLEI as funding is available.
• Media support as requested to foster promotion of local climate action efforts.

 
Sustainable Silicon Valley

• Quarterly Educational Forums on topics of concern to organizations working to reduce energy use and CO₂ emissions.
• Access to Energy Efficiency Incentive Funds through an agreement with PG&E that makes energy efficiency incentive funds available to qualifying SSV Partners and Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG) members.
• The ongoing exchange of Energy and CO₂ Best Practices, at monthly meetings and through direct contacts within Sustainable Silicon Valley.
• Public recognition, as bestowed this past year on SSV and SSV Partners by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and by the California Climate Action Team in its report to the governor.
• Inclusion in the annual CO₂ Report, which highlights Partner achievements in the context of Silicon Valley trends.
• Media attention has included front page Business section coverage in the San Jose Mercury News, KGO/ABC7 television evening news and other programming, and interviews on various radio stations.
• Nomination by SSV for honors and recognition.
• Affiliation with other prominent Silicon Valley organizations in an internationally recognized, regional effort to address the environmental concerns of your organization and its community.

For further information about ICLEI and Sustainable Silicon Valley, consult the ICLEI web site at http://www.iclei.org/usa; and the SSV web site at http://www.sustainablesiliconvalley.org.

Appendix B.

Organizational Membership/Partnership Dues

ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability

  
Sustainable Silicon Valley

Annual SSV partnership dues for any pledging government agency are currently $1,000 per year per local government.

-------------------------

[1] This training may be augmented by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

Meet the Bagman for Crime Inc - Your Local Government by RBWhite, an independent researcher in Northern California

Did you like this article? Be sure to share it with your friends, follow us on Facebook or Twitter, and subscribe to our RSS feed to stay up to date on problems with Agenda 21 and Sustainable Development.