||| CLIMATE EYES by STEVE BERNHEIM |||

The San Juan County Council met last Monday, September 18 to release its greenhouse gas study which attempts to quantify human-caused greenhouse gas emissions originating in the county as well as those human-caused emissions occurring elsewhere that are associated with county residents’ activities, and to accept a $300,000 state climate planning grant.

Quantifying and identifying the “geographic” emissions (those occurring within the county) and the “consumption-based” emissions (those occurring anywhere in the world resulting from the activities of county residents) is one of the first steps in becoming able to systematically develop plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, here and elsewhere.

The good news is that San Juan County’s electricity causes fewer greenhouse gas emissions than electricity in most locations because it comes primarily from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) which sells electricity from dams on the Columbia River that do not emit substantial greenhouse gases according to many measures, while most cities and counties across the country rely on electricity from coal, natural gas or fuel oil which produce large amounts of greenhouse gases. Whether BPA remains a viable long-term source of electricity remains to be seen as salmon and orca species disappear and water supplies dry up, but for the time being, San Juan County enjoys a lower-than-average greenhouse gas profile because we do not have substantial carbon emissions associated with our county’s unlimited electricity consumption.

Locally, about 177,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e) emissions emerged from the geographic confines of San Juan County in 2019, according to the report. Most of this carbon dioxide was pumped into the air by the local ferries (20% of all emissions), auto and truck travel on local roads (18%), and (surprisingly) recreational boating (18%). Tree loss, i.e., emissions that occur when trees are cut down for timber harvest, land clearing or forest and fire management, accounted for a whopping 13% of county emissions. (Page 25.) Timber harvest is said to account for 78% of the 2019 tree loss. The county’s remaining 30% of its total emissions came from off-road vehicles (7%), heating buildings with propane and fuel oil (7%), solid waste processing (5%), escaping refrigerants (5%), livestock and electric generation.

For the most part, because wood fuel burned to heat homes is considered “biogenic” and not “anthropogenic” or “human caused,” it is not accounted for in these totals. Biogenic wood burning emissions were estimated to be, yes, a whopping 40,000 MTCO2e and are reported separately because technically, over time, the carbon contained in the wood would have been released naturally into the atmosphere without human intervention. “While wood only contributes a small amount to the anthropogenic total of communitywide emissions, it is still an inefficient heating source when compared to fuel oil and propane when the biogenic emissions are also taken into consideration.” (p. 18.). In other words, wood burning stoves release a whole lot of carbon emissions even if they are not, technically, human-caused in the same way that burning fossil fuels are.

But what we generate locally even adding in the wood smoke is much less than what we generate elsewhere. County residents were responsible, according to the report, for 308,000 additional MTCO2e in 2019 from emissions outside of the county (such as when a county resident drives to Costco or orders a blender from Amazon). Most residents’ consumption-based emissions came from transportation impacts (36%), but local demands for services accounted for 23% of the consumption-based emissions.

Gasoline was by far the largest single factor, about 14% of the total household consumption-based emissions calculations, followed by healthcare broadly, which is said to be responsible for 7% of county household emissions.

The search for food contributed 21% of the household food-related emissions, with plant-based food accounting for about 20% while animal-based foods and eating out was said to account for about 80%. The report observes on page 39 that animal-based foods have an “outsized impact” on the typical household’s emissions because of the emissions from the animals themselves and from the extensive food-system necessary to feed all the animals during their lifetimes. Moreover, since US households purchase more calories per person per day, about 3,800, more than any other country, additional
wasteful emission result when the average household eats more than it needs and throws away 30-40% of its food.

Oddly, and bizarrely optimistically, the report suggests county greenhouse gas emissions “have seen an overall decline” since 2007, even though according to the data presented on page 34 of the report emissions have seen an overall increase since 2010.

The impact of visitors to the county is briefly addressed, the report concluding that while local residents were responsible for 308,000 consumption-based MTCO2e in 2019, visitors and tourists to the county generated an additional 180,000 consumption-based MTCO2e during their visits because “just over 1 in 3 people on the islands on an average day is a visitor.” (Page 42.)

So, what to do ? The report makes several suggestions, including transitioning to emissions-free vehicles and “where feasible” supporting alternative modes of transit such as biking, walking, and buses. (Page 45.) The report also suggests exploring policies to encourage a dietary shift away from imported red meat, focusing on locally caught fish and/or reductions in meat consumption, generally, along with strategies to reduce food waste.

To reduce the actual local geographic emissions, including those from ferries, cars, trucks and tree-cutting, the report recommends actions aimed at:

  • Sustainable maritime transport
  • Reduction in vehicle miles traveled
  • Expansion of electric vehicle infrastructure
  • Enhanced tree preservation & management
  • Building electrification and
  • Building energy efficiency

To reduce consumption-based emissions caused by the activities of county residents but resulting in
emissions outside of the county, the report identifies potential reduction strategies such as:

  • Reduction in vehicle miles traveled
  • Expansion of electric vehicle infrastructure
  • Expansion of safe walking and biking infrastructure, and
  • Community education and engagement around plant-based foods

The county will receive a $300,000 state grant this year to help plan for and implement emissions reductions and steps necessary to withstand global warming such as inundation of low-elevation roadways and erosion from storms.

Whether county emissions will ever decline was said at the meeting to depend upon a program of community education and civic engagement.

 

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