10/26/07- As seen in The CITIZEN

Editorial: Measuring carbon use is step in the right direction

 

KEY WEST —The city of Key West is admitting that it has a problem. We, along with the rest of the nation and much of the world, are addicted to fossil fuels.

This habit is expensive, unhealthy and, according to overwhelming scientific evidence, likely to lead to large-scale climate changes. We are particularly vulnerable to such changes, living so close to sea level and so dependent on a degrading coral reef system.

So it is good news indeed that the city, at long last, appears to be acknowledging that climate change is real and taking some responsibility for our contribution to the problem.

Mayor Jimmy Weekley signed on to the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement several years ago — but the city had done little, if anything, of substance on that front. Until recently.

Now the city has agreed to take part in Cities for Climate Change, a program that will help us figure out our "carbon footprint," the scope of our contribution to global warming.

And the city has hired Jody Smith Williams, an environmentalist who helped found the immensely successful Green Living and Energy Expo organization, to measure that footprint.

Williams will be looking at the island's overall fuel usage — including electricity for our homes and gas for our cars — as well as that used by the city itself. She'll also be examining our garbage habits, and we hope will be able to help figure out why our recycling rates are so abysmally low.

Key West is certainly vulnerable to climate change, but it also has unusual opportunities to encourage efficient living. We don't have to burn oil to heat our homes in winter, and there are ways to cool them down that don't require living in refrigerators.

Transportation is the obvious opportunity that has so far gone mostly untapped. Buses are still not widely used by the general public, and the city has some way to go before it becomes truly bicycle-friendly. But efforts have been made on both fronts, and they should be encouraged and expanded.

On the grand scale of things, Key West's contribution to global warming is infinitesimally small. But as a place that is likely to feel its effects early and hard, and as a high-profile resort city that millions of people know and love, we have a great opportunity before us. We're glad to see the city, at long last, taking steps in the right direction. We hope other Keys cities and the county will follow suit.

— The Citizen