Community GHG Emissions
A major concern to the Lake Oswego community and beyond is a changing climate due to increased greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from human activity. That is why we took the proactive step to measure the total contribution of GHG emissions from the community (all residents and businesses in Lake Oswego). With a better understanding of the community’s carbon footprint, we can work together to find solutions that will not only reduce the community’s GHG emissions, but may have multiple other benefits, such as cleaner air, more localized economic opportunities, and a more connected, livable, and resilient community. Read more.
Local Government GHG Emissions
In 2010, the City completed a GHG inventory for City operations. An inventory was also completed for 2000. The results of both inventories as well as an overview presentation can be found here.
Resources
We make a million choices, every day, and they all add up to this big picture. So challenge yourself, and take one step at a time to reducing your carbon footprint! Here are some resources to help you understand your carbon footprint:
- For households and residential community members, here's a link to the Oregon Carbon Footprint Calculator for Households (a partnership of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the CoolClimate Network, a program of the University of California, Berkeley).
- For small businesses, here's a link to the Small Business Carbon Footprint Calculator from the CoolClimate Network.
Keep Oregon Cool, the website of the Oregon Global Warming Commission, provides excellent information about climate change impacts, State emission reduction goals, and actions we can all take to reduce our contribution to climate change.
Metro's Climate Change website provides information about our region's carbon footprint and actions individuals and businesses can take to reduce our emissions.
Climate Mitigation and Adaptation
Responses to climate change can be put in two categories: mitigation or adaptation. Mitigation responses focus on reducing the amount of human-caused greenhouse gases (GHGs) entering the atmosphere; while climate adaptation and resilience strategies proactively address the impacts of climate change on communities and people’s abilities to adapt.