If you ran your city what steps would you take to decrease dependence on oil?

I realize that copycat threads are a no-no in GD but I'd really like to hear about local initiatives that could help.

Especially since average citizens can have far more influence on local decisions then they can have on a global level.

Less than 2,000? Between 2,001 and, say, 20,000? Between 20,001 and 50,000? Above 50,000?

Are you including only those within city limits or the area surrounding the city and if so how far out?

In order to get plans you need parameters and specifics.

Since I don't live in town, I would investigate those who are building wind farms and consider contacting them to allow them to lease land for installing wind turbines. Absent the pollution caused by laziness, carelessness, and/or crookedness problems that gas and oil wells tend to have it would appear to be a good solution. And supposedly it would allow farmers to continue farming the land below.

are astonishingly noisy - much more so than one would expect - as well as eyesores. Not to mention dangerous to anything that flies, like birds or ultralight aircraft.

just now, other than to say it's probably a good idea to begin the process of cutting back on petroleum based fuels at the local level rather than wait for something to come from Washington DC. I know I'm cutting back on my driving as much as I can.

and turns it into energy.

everyone knows that the railroad commission guy in childers makes all the real decisions.

no one ever expects the texas railroad commission.

but seriously, the local business community and the purchasing agents for major oil/chemical companies like motiva, total, basf, and huntsman wield the most power in my neck of the woods.

the crude oil rally is actually benefiting our local economy. we're experiencing something like a bubble here.

a plant expansion is taking place here that will create the largest refinery in the united states. it will pump between 15 - 30 billion dollars into the local economy (depending on your source).

so, it probably depends on where you live.

At least that's the messages I'm getting from my tinfoil antenna...

...invest in public transportation.

(As far as copycat threads go, this subject is important enough to merit more than one thread. A rec and kick for you.)

Combined population is probably 100,000.

I would buy a small fleet of hydrogen-fueled buses based on the Iceland bus fleet model and would find a way to subsidize the cost to ride them.

I would purchase a fleet of used bicycles, paint them yellow or green or blue and set them up in bike racks throughout the area with the understanding that these are for public use and free to use for getting from one shopping area or business to another. Similar to what Portland, OR has been doing for at least the past decade.

With these in place, would start charging people to drive their cars in specifc areas so they would see the convenience of using alternative transportation.

right now the little town (12,000) where I work has two municipal buses. They go by my office, and I notice very few riders. Routes are not posted and I don't think many folks know where they go. I'd heavily advertise the bus routes in the local paper and on the local radio stations. There are two or three big employers in town--I'd make sure that bus routes go near those places when shifts change, and ask the employers to offer incentives to employees to take advantage of the bus.

As mayor, I'd be looking at changing city vehicles over to electric. There are kits for doing this--the trick is having the vehicles for which kits are already made, and coming up with the funds to convert (about $6K according to my husband). I'd look to using bicycles for cops to patrol in town as well. My big PR deal would be that it is patriotic to save fuel. I'd get the Chamber of Commerce involved in a campaign to "shop locally", perhaps with some discounts to folks who show they've taken the bus to downtown, etc. I'd talk to the Ministerial Alliance about stressing carpooling to get to church. Finally, I'd make the town more bike friendly by putting in a bicycle lane around the square.

We posted at the same time with similarly brilliant ideas.

What do you say that we start running things?

:toast:

I don't think I would put the police on bicycles because it would be so impractical. If you want to cut back put them in electric cars or get a motorcycle for warm weather.

on fuel cell technology. I'd reassign large green spaces to public vegetable gardens-- leasing out lots to residents for a shares of the harvest to be given to the homeless centers and food banks to feed the poor. I'd continue with our current recycling/compost sites (see OCRRA). I'd utilize the railroad more for transportation as well as the canal system for moving goods.

I would put multiple bike racks on the buses and increase the number of buses after 4 pm to match the frequency of routes that occurs in the am. (Every half hour, everywhere). The buses will run on biodiesel mad from the biodiesal plant that generates the fuel from willow plants grown in swampy areas that are unfit for food crops. Residents will have property tax incentives to replace their windows and insulate as well as lease their roof space for energy generating solar panels that will keep the street lights on. I'll also install WiFi throughout the county so that people can do their work while traveling on the buses. I would advertise heavily about bus passes and routes. I'd have express buses as well from the outside suburbs/villages. I'd only hire local workers for much of the work (a county residence rule) needed to be done. I'd also install more bike racks at park&ride locations.

Every weekend at the Town Halls I would institute a neighbor trade sale, providing tables for a nominal fee for neighbors to trade or barter items (clothing, yard tools, services), as well as Farmer's Markets.

I'd ban plastic shopping bags and convert our sewage treatment plant to produce manure to fertilize the trees and ornamental gardens in our parks rather that the current practice of dumping overflow into the lake.

I'd do a review of the abandoned homes in the city center and determine what is worth saving and what isn't. Raze the buildings that are too far gone and develop small mini orchards/gardens on those lots. The ones worth saving, I'd simultaneously offer programs for individuals (not corporations, LLCs or developers) to purchase these for a nominal amount with low interest construction loans to bring the home into code for residence. Any remaining, I would renovate as a city property and develop after school program centers, teen centers in those buildings. To fund those, grant programs would need to be established, joint efforts by different agencies and ngo's as well as internship programs to help staff them. I would not increase or institute more taxes for this as I feel the area in which I live is already beset by so many taxes and fees the people just cannot take any more. (I am in NY, we have an income tax, high property and school taxes as well as an 8% sales tax in addition to high usage fees on everything as well as a lottery system and still no one has enough funding it appears).

We already have a regular Farmer's Market on the square, and swapping/trading and town yard sales are also done. I like the idea about the shopping bags and would add that the local sheltered workshop or the senior center could be recruited to make cloth bags. I already do this, recycling fabric from old clothes, which I get from one of the many charitable thrift stores here in town.

One other thing to think about is something our local pharmacist is touting--utilizing all the downtown space, including the second story of old store buildings. Like many small towns, the buildings around the square were built about 100 years ago, with upper stories for dwellings and offices. Sam has made the space above his pharmacy a showcase living quarters for himself and his family. He and his wife have gotten local gardening groups together and there are mini gardens on each corner of the square. He purchased a condemned property off the square, tore it down, and replaced it with a parking lot interspersed with flower beds and a fountain--all done and maintained at his expense.

The local arts council, in cooperation with the town, saved the old downtown theater and has made it into a showcase for live drama, music presentations, and showings of classic films. The idea is that you don't have to drive to Branson MO for entertainment--you can get it right here at home.

Also... more parking at bus/train stations.

another bus route so people wouldn't have to walk so far in the heat

and replace as many car roads as possible with bike paths.

infrastructure for cycling. This is a (relatively) small town and bike paths, bike racks and even a tax credit could get more people out of cars and buses.

I'd try to find ways to increase safe bicycle travel, maybe using the shoulders of railroad tracks and walling them off for bicycle and pedestrian travel. Walling off bicycle lanes and building underpasses so bicycles don't have to stop at red lights might be expensive, but I'll bet it would increase bicycle travel. If bicycle travel is made safer, we could see bicycle makers design more three wheel recumbents with comfortable seats and enclosed driver areas so that you could ride in all kinds of weather.

Here are some projects for massive development of these kinds of bicycle throughways under consideration in California:

http://www.americantrails.org/resources/railtrails/CArail.html

We need a network of safe, flat-graded (or power-assisted as in Norway) bike routes within and between cities.

Also safe, enclosed bike parking - possibly like the Japanese bike towers. I'd love to own a tadpole, but I live on the third floor of a historic building (no elevator) and at nearly 68 I really don't think I could manage lugging a tadpole up the stairs even if I could find space for it in the apt. I have enough trouble with my 2wheelers.

First, I would increase the use of SCAT(St. Charles Area Transit) system of buses, including buying more buses and including more routes with attention paid to shopping areas and residential areas, even beyond city limits into the surrounding County. At the same time, I would push for St. Louis's Metrolink light rail system to be expanded across the Missouri River into St. Charles county, and make sure SCAT has stops at the new stations built for the light rail system.

The building of more bicycle paths is a given, there is currently Katy's Trail, but that's more for recreation than commuter traffic. So bicycle paths intersecting both residential and commercial areas are needed. I would also encourage zoning of mixed areas, with pedestrian and bicycle traffic taking precedence over automobile traffic.

There are other ideas for both the state and federal level, but I'll stick with this local stuff in this thread.

Though it isn't really all that bad for a town this size in car-addicted USA.

it would get the city easily off of oil for power generation and create a rich source of compost material for richer soil in the green area. oh, and of course the power plant will be publicly owned, never to be signed off for privatization in perpetuity.

immediately switch the entire civic fleet, except maybe a few police SWAT vans and cruisers, into electric vehicles. provide electrical outlets for usage at civic buildings.

update the bus mass transit fleet w/ electric buses or nat. gas buses (provided from our sluiced poo-poo). create subsidy & grant incentives for updating the local taxi services in the area.

manage future zoning for greater density or at least multi-use. stop letting the growth spill over into sprawl.

solar tile every civic building and electric car possible. use grants and subsidies to assist low income families to upgrade their roofs with solar tiles. provide subsidized energy saving devices to the local community.

create neighborhood activity programs, incorporating the civic employees, including peace officers, fire fighters, heath workers, teachers, etc. get the people to actually talk to their neighbor. let the people start to build social networks. let these networks assist in policing and civic recommendations.