Missoula considers hiring energy-conscious official

Hire a sustainability coordinator in Missoula to take on global warming - that's the message the city is hearing from a few different fronts.

In Fayetteville, Ark., adding such a position a year and a half ago did wonders for the bottom line. There, sustainability coordinator John Coleman said the first year he was hired, he paid for his own salary - and then some - in energy cost savings.

Folks there took small steps the first year, like turning off computers and using daylight, he said. Many people bought in - though he still finds some who think they need a space heater in the middle of summer.

He doesn't penalize them, but he doesn't ignore them either.

"I'll give them a hard time," Coleman said.

His salary is $57,000, and the first energy bill came in $180,000 under budget, he said. Coleman said part of the savings was due to a cooler June - not just conservation measures. Coleman, a one-man department in a town of an estimated 70,000, said he's still entering 2007 data so he hasn't yet calculated the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Here, the Missoula County Conservation Roundtable, which describes itself as a loose-knit group collaborating on sustainability, made its request for such a coordinator at this week's council meeting.

A letter delivered to the Missoula City Council says the person would do an inventory of the city's carbon footprint and energy use and develop a "climate and energy action plan."

Amy Cilimburg, with Montana Audubon, said Mayor John Engen and the city are making headway on responsible energy use, and a staff person dedicated to the job would build on existing momentum. Plus, other cities are seeing successes, and the local work is trickling up to the state and federal level.

"There's becoming more and more examples of cities the size of Missoula really taking on the challenge and doing extremely well," Cilimburg said.

In the letter, the roundtable says it is endorsing the recommendation of the mayor's Advisory Board on Climate Change and Sustainability in taking up the call: "Addressing climate change is the moral and environmental challenge and opportunity of our time. The time for action cannot wait."

The Green Blocks program, in which the city teams up with NorthWestern Energy to make homes more energy efficient at no cost to residents, also came out of the mayor's advisory board.

Engen said he's planning to add the position in the 2010 budget, or next year, and it takes some preparation. The city needs to plan the job duties and also figure out how the position will pay for itself, among other things.

"This just isn't the budget year for it. Otherwise, I would have had it in the executive budget. So we'll be talking about that next year," Engen said.

Some big cities began tackling sustainability a while ago, and some, such as San Francisco, have entire departments dedicated to the cause, said Annie Strickler, spokeswoman for ICLEI.

ICLEI, founded as the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, bills itself as "an international association of local governments and national and regional local government organizations that have made a commitment to sustainable development."

Strickler said smaller cities are now signing on, and Missoula, Bozeman and Helena are dues-paying members of ICLEI. Most cities first take on the "low-hanging fruit," like making sure traffic lights are energy efficient. She said the big work comes in land-use planning.

City communications director Ginny Merriam said the recommendation for a coordinator also came from a City Council subcommittee focused on greenhouse gas reduction and energy conservation. The city does much conservation work on the side but the amount is reaching a critical mass, she said.

"It's quite clear that there are many people in Missoula who would support the work of a sustainability coordinator and who would like the city to be more hands-on with its green initiatives. And the mayor wants to be," Merriam said.

More than 20 people signed the Conservation Roundtable letter representing a number of groups, including Montana Audubon, Clark Fork Coalition, Climate Solutions, homeWORD, the Jeannette Rankin Peace Center, Missoula Institute for Sustainable Transportation, Bike-Walk Alliance for Missoula, Caring for Creation Network, GlobalWarmingSolution.org, Wildlands CPR, Wild West Institute, Five Valleys Audubon, Missoula County Chapter Board of Montana Conservation Voters, Western Environmental Law Center, LEARNMT.org, Sunelco, Native Forest Foundation, and the University of Montana's Sustainable Campus Committee and Recycling Committee.