New Recommendations for Denver Greenhouse Emissions Open for Comment

Earlier this month the Greenprint Denver Advisory Council, a group created by Mayor Hickenlooper to figure out what Denver should do about its greenhouse gas emissions, released an inventory report asserting that by 2020, Denver should be able to cut its emissions of CO2 by 25 percent. The accompanying draft Action Plan makes a bunch of recommendations for Denver and Colorado. Some of of the Denver recommendations:

4Ask voters to approve a tiered rate structure for electricity/natural gas, similar to how water usage is currently handled; also, waste disposal rates tied to volume of non-recyclable trash to encourage recycling.

4Implement a voluntary travel offset program: a 'small, voluntary fee' paid when you register a car or buy an airline ticket, which would go into a fund used to support carbon neutral travel.

4Require 'green concrete' in all private and public construction projects.

A couple of the recommendations for statewide initiatives:

4Require 'pay-as-you-drive' auto insurance, where premiums are partially based on miles traveled, to discourage car travel.

4Implement a 'fee-bate' system, where fees charged on high-emission vehicles are used to provide rebates on low-emission vehicles.

4Implement a 'cap-and-trade' type program tying Xcel's increasing renewables portfolio to reduced greenhouse emissions.

Happily, the Greenprint Council is requesting public input via email or on its blog discussing the reports.