City Climate Corner

Latest Episodes:

Heidelberg: Carbon Neutral District Oct 18, 2022

Show notes

Heidelberg is nearing completion of the Bahnstadt, one of the world’s largest carbon neutral districts. Built on a former brownfield site, this development includes passive-house construction, a combined heat and power station with district heating, green infrastructure to reduce the risk of flooding, access to transit, biking and walking paths, and more. We interview Wiebke Grosskopf, from the Heidelberg Office of Environmental Protection, to learn how the Bahnstadt works and what's next in its development.

Resources

Solar United Neighbors: Solar "co-ops" Oct 04, 2022

Show notes

Will rooftop solar be the cornerstone of a modern clean energy system? We interview Anya Schoolman, executive director of Solar United Neighbors and learn how this growing organization is helping neighborhoods go solar around the country, and how this is transforming our energy system.

Resources

Solar United Neighbors website
Solar resource guides, educational tools, and issues
Allegheny Solar Fest (mentioned in episode)

Rotterdam: Climate proofing a city Sep 20, 2022

Show notes

Rotterdam, and The Netherlands in general, have a long history of fighting water. But how are they adapting to climate change where they can have both too much and too little water? We interview Johan Verlinde, Program Manager for Rotterdam's Climate Adaptation Plan about their efforts to make Rotterdam climate proof by 2030. This is an episode coming from Abby's summer trip touring sustainability infrastructure in several European cities.

Resources

Rotterdam Climate Adaptation Program
Article on drought threatening Dutch homes built on wooden poles
Benthemplein Water Square
- In action - Instagram video 1 (look how happy Abby is that it's raining)
- In action - Instagram video 2
- In action - Instagram video 3
- In action - Instagram video 4
- In action - Instagram video 5
Sponge Garden
Sparta Stadium and underground water storage
ZOHO rain barrels and garden
Miscellaneous photos from Abby's time in Rotterdam

Zoning for Solar Sep 07, 2022

Show notes

How do you make sure your city's zoning isn't unintentionally slowing down residential solar and ideally encouraging equitable solar development? And for communities with farmland or less developed areas, how do you proactively guide larger scale solar to maximize benefits to the community? We interview Brian Ross, Vice President of Renewable Energy at the Great Plains Institute, and learn about these and many more solar related zoning and permitting issues.

Resources

Great Plains Institute (GPI) website
GPI Model Solar Ordinances
Article on Minneapolis training program including solar
Bloomberg article on Menlo Park & Bloc Power
Local article on Ithaca's relationship with Bloc Power

Europe Cities Overview with ICLEI Europe Aug 23, 2022

Show notes

Building off of Abby's recent sustainability tour of several European cities, we interview Holger Robrecht, Deputy Regional Director of Sustainable Resources, Climate and Resilience for ICLEI Europe. We learn some similarities and differences to how European cities pursue climate action and sustainability, hear about a terrific success around wood building construction, and get some powerful insight for cities everywhere.

ICLEI Europe - website
Overshoot day (discussed in episode)
Växjö - Europe's First Modern Wooden City - article
Växjö - Info from Swedish Forest Industries website

Making Solar Easy: Solsmart and IREC Aug 09, 2022

Show notes

There's no such thing as a free lunch, right? Well, maybe there is in solar. Cities participating in the free Solsmart program have been shown to have almost 20% more solar installations than cities that don't. We interview Theresa Perry, Solsmart Program Director at the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) about some of the hidden and soft costs around solar deployments and how Solsmart helps cities address them and make solar easier.

Resources

Flagstaff AZ: The Case for Carbon Dioxide Removal Jul 26, 2022

Show notes

Driven by community members, in 2020 Flagstaff declared a climate emergency and adopted an aggressive goal of carbon neutrality by 2030. We interview Flagstaff Climate Analyst Ramon DC Alatorre and learn how that goal led the city to identify carbon removal as a necessity and about their first "concrete" steps to implement a carbon removal program.

Resources

Flagstaff Carbon Neutrality Plan website and the plan itself
"Carbon Dioxide Removal" - Presentation to Flagstaff City Council - Ramon Alatorre, 5/11/21
Flagstaff Climate Program - website
Grist article: Why Boulder County and Flagstaff are enlisting cities to suck carbon out of the atmosphere
OpenAir Carbon Removal Collective - website

Winneshiek IA: Local Clean Energy Superpower Jul 12, 2022

Show notes

You wouldn't expect a clean energy revolution to be emanating from a small county in northeastern Iowa. Yet, Winneshiek County has something like 10X the solar per capita deployments compared to the rest of Iowa, has one of the first green banks in the Midwest, and has become a model for about ten other counties. We interview Andy Johnson, Director of the Winneshiek Energy District, and learn why they've been so successful and their vision for how to scale their success.

Resources

Winneshiek Energy District website
Greenpenny.com bank
Oneota Tag Carbon Offsets
Energy District Geography of Change - the Energy District model and opportunity

Rerelease of Tempe AZ: Resilience to Extreme Heat Jul 05, 2022

Show notes

We're on a mid-summer break, and are re-releasing the Tempe AZ episode from a few months ago, in recognition of the extreme heat being seen in many parts of the US. We'll be back with new content next week.

Extreme heat is now commonplace in Tempe, with 100 days per year over 100 degrees Fahrenheit and 30 days a year over 110. And those numbers are increasing. We interview Dr. Braden Kay, Tempe's Director of Sustainability, to learn how Tempe's is adapting while trying to change its built environment to reduce the urban heat island effect.

Resources

Climate Action Plan
Climate Action Plan Update
2020 Sustainability and Resilience Annual Report
EnVision Tempe
Sustainable Tempe website
NPR report on Tempe resilience hubs

Fort Collins CO: People-Centered Climate Action Jun 21, 2022

Show notes

Having met their initial goal of 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 (from a 2005 baseline), officials in Fort Collins, Colorado, realized they needed to do something transformational to hit their next goal of 80% reduction by 2030. We interview Energy Services Manager John Phelan and Climate Program Manager Honoré Depew from the City of Fort Collins about how they are implementing their new people centered approach to climate action.

Resources

Fort Collins Climate Action webpage
Community Consultant Project Descriptions
Climate Action Dashboard
Community Carbon Inventory

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