Concord, NH

This submission reflects this organization's contribution to the climate effort, representative of their current actions and commitments as well as the ways in which they intend to step up and collaborate with others.

Concord, NH's Climate Action Contribution

About Concord, NH's Climate Efforts

The Concord City Council adopted the 100% Renewable Energy Resolution by unanimous vote on July 9th, 2018. The Concord Energy and Environment Committee and city administration are currently developing plans to place a large solar array (3-4 MW) on the city's capped landfill.

Climate Action Commitments

Current Climate Actions Concord, NH Is Taking:

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Commit to 100% Renewable Electricity: Ready for 100

Ultimately, we must transition to communities powered by 100% clean, renewable energy. That transition should ensure benefit to low-income communities, a just transition for displaced workers in fossil fuel jobs, equitable access and affordability. If you are ready to set a 100% goal for your community, the Sierra Club’s Ready for 100 campaign can help build support for your vision. Join the nearly 70 US communities with 100% goals.

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Partner with other US cities/counties to advocate for national climate policies and take collective action: Climate Mayors

Climate Mayors, founded in 2014, is a bipartisan, peer-to-peer network of over 400 U.S. mayors working together to demonstrate leadership on climate through meaningful actions in their communities, and to express and build political will for effective federal and global policy action.

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Purchase renewable power or build on-site renewable electricity to run local government needs

Powering your own operations with renewable electricity or using local government buildings and land to site solar PV panels is within the decision-making authority of most localities and can be a model to your community.

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Increase energy efficiency of local government operations, such as buildings, street lighting, and water or wastewater plants

Energy efficiency is the best way to save taxpayer money and cut climate pollution right now. The average building wastes about a third of the energy it uses. Consider implementing a strategic energy management plan for all major operations.

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Increase rates of walking, cycling and public transit through means accessible to all residents

In many communities, the transportation sector is the largest share of their pollution and getting people to use alternative modes of transit to the personal vehicle comes with a myriad of benefits, not only cutting greenhouse gases.

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Set a goal for emissions reduction equal to or greater than the US goal under the Paris Climate Agreement (26-28% by 2025)

We all know the best way to measure, and actually achieve success, is to set a goal. Making that goal inline with or stronger than the U.S. nationally determined contribution under Paris signals that local governments are doing their part. Hundreds of cities and counties across the U.S. see an emissions reduction target of this level ambitious but doable.

Current Climate Actions Report

New Climate Actions Concord, NH Commits To Take:

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Replace fleet vehicles and buses that run on fossil fuels with vehicles that run on electricity

Electric fleet vehicles, especially buses, have a range of benefits that make them an excellent investment for local government use. Cities are coming together to spur innovation amongst manufacturers and use their collective purchasing power to drive down cost.

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Work with energy utilities to increase renewable energy provided to residents and businesses

Going beyond the local government’s own operations to make renewable energy available to your community is a challenging, but critical step that means working with utilities, state government, and your residents. Clean, renewable bring with them better air, predictable, increasingly lower customer pricing, and local job deployment opportunities.

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Adopt policies that accelerate the transition to electric vehicles for commercial fleets and personal vehicles

Electric vehicles for personal and commercial use are, along with automation, a major trend coming to scale quickly. The proper infrastructure to support EVs will be critical to capture their benefits. Consider partnership with the largest local commercial fleet operators to pilot new ideas.

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Adopt policies to reduce carbon footprint of new and/or existing buildings

Building electricity, heating, and cooling at the community-scale is, with transportation, the other major source of carbon emissions. Strategies will vary between single-family homes, multi-family residential housing, and commercial buildings. Conducting energy audits and using benchmarking is an excellent tool to drive efficiency. Incentive programs for energy upgrades can be done effectively the more buildings that participate.

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Promote practices that reduce the carbon footprint of food procurement and consumption and prevent food waste

Food is often overlooked as a source of greenhouse gas pollution. What it takes to produce, how far is travels to get to consumers and what’s done with food that’s not eaten all lead to major carbon pollution. Producing more food locally, running programs with restaurants and institutions to reduce food waste, and cutting back on carbon intense foods such as meat and poultry are important steps.

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Give all residents in my community, especially those underrepresented or of marginalized groups, a voice in setting policy and action plans

Plans, strategies, and their implementation should include the input and priorities of the community. Having your residents’ support and involvement will lead to better long term solutions. Simply holding an open public hearing is not sufficient for the inclusion of all residents. Many methods exist for successful community engagement.

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Quantify, track and publicly report my climate action through CDP or carbon Climate Registry

Disclosure of your climate targets, emissions profile, and actions on a transparent platform is important for accountability to your residents and is increasingly necessary to access tools and financial resources.

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Use strategies building resilience to threats of climate change in zoning, capital improvement, comprehensive planning, and hazard mitigation documents

One of the most important things local governments can do when it comes to addressing climate change is to prepare for its effects--severe storms, drought, flooding, heat waves and more. Local government is already pledged to provide for the health and safety of their residents from these hazards. Climate change will make them worse and understanding and accounting for what’s to come in existing official documents is part of that responsibility.

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Join the Renewable Energy Request for Information (RFI)

The Renewable Energy RFI will compile the energy demand data across participating U.S. cities and ask renewable energy developers for price estimates for projects that would meet their collective energy demand. To participate, cities are not asked to commit to contracts, only to share the electricity use and how much of that they want to come from renewables by 2040. We Are Still In will put you in contact with the program organizers to answer your questions. You can also contact info@climate-mayors.org.

Areas For Collaboration

We are interested in collaborating on the following:

Efficient Buildings
  • Encouraging more aggressive state energy efficiency policies

Electric Vehicles
  • Encouraging more aggressive state targets for electric vehicles and GHG standards
  • Promoting increased charging infrastructure

HFC Phase Down
  • Encouraging states to adopt policies to phase out HFCs on an accelerated timeline
  • Promoting greater participation in voluntary programs to phase out HFCs

Local Collaboration
  • Collaborate on climate and clean energy action, and to advocate for stronger climate policy at the local level

Methane
  • Enacting policies and programs that cut fugitive methane emissions from oil and gas production
  • Scaling initiatives to reduce methane from livestock and increase production of on-farm renewable energy
  • Supporting adoption of state-level policies to reduce methane from upstream and midstream oil and gas operations
  • Supporting implementation of methane leak detection technology and processes in aging infrastructure

Natural Lands
  • Encouraging states to adopt incentive programs for forest management, tree cover expansion, and soil health
  • Promoting science-based targets for GHG emissions and removals in agricultural supply chains

Utility Sector
  • Aggregating demand for renewable energy with other actors
  • Encouraging more aggressive state renewable energy policies
  • Supporting states, cities, and utilities in decarbonizing their energy supply

Organization details

The City of Concord, New Hampshire is the third largest municipality in the state
Sector
City
Location
Concord, NH