Wolf Calls for Greener County Building

While Pappas spent $10,000 for one vote, Farr announced her staff and then Wolf called for a greener County Building :) I think it's time to move on...

At yesterday’s Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors hearing, Second District Supervisor Janet Wolf called for the County to “get it’s own house in order” by reconstituting the County’s Green Team as the “Conservation and Sustainability Team,” under the direction of General Services, charged specifically with developing a strategic plan and action steps within 90 days so that County Departments can begin to immediately and significantly reduce their energy consumption in existing buildings and activities. Wolf’s motion to the board calling for a bold strategic plan and action steps within 90 days was approved 4-1.

In the past year, Supervisor Wolf strongly advocated for the hiring of the County’s first-ever Energy Manager, who began work in April 2008. In a recent briefing, Wolf learned that the County could be doing much more to reduce energy costs and establish sustainable practices.

Wolf said, “While the County has been moving ahead with some good programs in conservation and sustainability, we need to quickly and comprehensively reduce energy use in our existing County buildings and practices. We need to model sustainable, energy efficient practices in the County, and we need to do it now.”

The County is in the process of certifying its carbon footprint and establishing a baseline. Wolf said, “Not only can we reduce energy consumption and save money, we could choose to bank the dollars we save and invest them in renewable energy with the goal of someday making the County ‘carbon neutral.’”