The following statement to the Boulder City Council was made on behalf of PLAN-Boulder County by Pat Shanks on May 18, 2010:

SmartRegs statement to Council

I’m Pat Shanks- 3345 Broadway- speaking for PBC. 

Remember the campaign for the carbon tax in 2006?  Remember all the conversation about “low hanging fruit?”  This of course means tackling the easy chores first, and in the context of climate action it means attic insulation, sealing air leaks with weather stripping, caulking, and other means, adding energy efficient light bulbs, adding flow restricted showerheads, etc.  These are easy and relatively inexpensive.  SmartRegs is designed to spur harvesting the low-hanging fruit.

PLAN-Boulder has made climate action our number one advocacy priority because this is the most serious challenge facing our planet and our city.  Boulder has led the way before in other areas, and our first-in-the-nation climate action plan follows that tradition.  Other cities around the globe are looking to us to show the way, and ``SmartRegs is a critically important step.

City of Boulder in 2002 adopted a climate goal that requires reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 23 percent (to 7 percent below 1990 levels) by 2012.  And we need to go far beyond that first step to reverse global warming.  Goals defined by the Governor’s Energy Office require reduction of 80% by 2050. 

To meet the 2012 Kyoto goal, we need to reduce our carbon emissions in Boulder by about 400 thousand tons.  Residential building consumption in Boulder is currently about 225 thousand tons per year, so reductions can have big impact.

SmartRegs are a critical piece of the puzzle.  Numerous studies have shown that increasing energy efficiency of our buildings requires a “carrot and stick approach.”

Reasons to support SmartRegs-

• About 50% of our housing stock is in rentals.  
• It is a question of social fairness.  Some of our least affluent residents are paying unreasonable energy costs because of poorly sealed and insulated apartments.
• In many rental units, small investments can harvest big reductions in carbon emissions.

SmartRegs represent a first step in adding the stick (regulatory clout) to the Climate Action Plan, as part of the broader effort to improve energy efficiency across all building types in the city.

We recognize that landlords will have to bear the initial costs of efficiency upgrades, but there is a lot of help available-

• Landlords may deduct and depreciate improvements as the cost of ownership,
• They can apply for a ClimateSmart loan, which allows a 15 yr payment on the property tax.  For example $2000 worth of attic insulation- about R60 in a 1000 ft house- would cost about $20 a month and would result in substantial saving.  Note: this program requires participants to sign an energy disclosure waiver, so we will have metric for whether this is working.
• Energy rebates will significantly offset the initial costs. 

PLAN-Boulder County supports SmartRegs as recommended in the staff memo and urges you to pass it on first reading.