2006 Gustavus CO2e Emissions

Gustavus, Alaska

Gustavus City Council Feb. 14, 2008

Gustavus, Alaska

Dear City Council Members:

Here we present the product of a year-long effort to assess two factors: our community’s dependence on fossil fuel supplies, and our contribution to emissions that are changing the climate and making the oceans more acidic. We have been amazed to find that over 950,000 gallons of fossil fuels per year are burned to run our local economy and our local households. And we have learned that our per capita greenhouse gas emissions are well above the U.S. average, and far above the world average. We have fairly high confidence in the estimates presented here, with the exception of the figure for Alaska Airlines jet fuel. We greatly appreciate the generosity of the individuals and businesses that provided this information.

We join other U.S. and Alaska communities in quantifying our fuel usage and global warming emissions. One impetus for fuel inventories is the possibility of reaching “peak oil,” or, alternatively, reaching a plateau in world oil supplies. This is because new oil discoveries now fall far short of oil consumption. Some experts believe that “peak oil” will not arrive for several decades, but others think it will arrive in a couple of years. The City of Haines recognized that their town’s high dependence on fossil fuels makes it vulnerable to potential shortages and higher prices, so the City created an Energy Task Force and is now reviewing its draft report. Other cities, e.g. Portland, Oregon, have plans to cope with reduced oil supplies.

Our fossil fuel inventory also made it possible to quantify our greenhouse gas emissions so that we can see how much we contribute to climate change. This information should help us look for ways to reduce our impact on the climate and oceans. Many cities are doing greenhouse gas inventories, often with the help of special software and consultants. In Gustavus we thought it possible do the fuel and emissions inventories ourselves.

We will make this information broadly available around town. We hope it will help our city government and all of us to assess the situation and figure out what we can do. Climate change is a huge threat to the Earth. For us on the north Pacific coast the threat of ocean acidification due to excess CO₂ emissions is possibly an even larger threat. Precious time has been wasted while the long-lasting greenhouse gases add up in the atmosphere and in the oceans. National leadership has been inadequate and in any case local action is essential.

Let us talk with each other and figure out what we can do.

Thank you for your attention,

Judy Brakel, Whitney Rapp, Mark Berry, Janene Driscoll, Jake Gibson and Chris Gabriele