April Meeting Summary

We are very excited to see the continued interest in the RRPC Energy Committee's work. At the April meeting, our commissioners were joined by representatives from the Rutland Energy Committee, Rutland Redevelopment Authority and Tinmouth Energy Committee, as well as citizens from the towns of Wallingford and City of Rutland.

Eric Mach began the meeting with a round of introductions and approval of the meeting notes from the March meeting.

Staff members Susan Schreibman and Sara Gilbert briefly introduced the Way to Go! Program and explained that there are four local sponsors of the event (see instructions below), and passed out informational packets to the commissioners. Several commissions and guests also agreed to contact area businesses and organizations, such as Community College of Vermont, Rutland Regional Medical Center, Hubbardton Forge, the Rutland Free Library, the Towns of Pawlet and Sudbury, the Rutland State Office Building, the Killington Planning Commission, the Curbstone Chorus, area Rotary Clubs, and the Unitarian Universalist Church in Rutland. Commissioners also planned to spread the word at Green-Up Day events.

Guest Speaker

Deb Sachs, Director, Community Climate Action and 10% Challenge Program

Way to Go! Program

The committee was very pleased to welcome Deb Sachs as our guest speaker. Deb presented a brief history of the Way to Go! Program, which is in its 14^th year (under various names). The program is made possible through partnerships with state and local level partner non-profits, as well as through collaboration with businesses around the state.

Deb gave several examples of businesses that are participating in the program:

• Merchants Bank is a participating sponsor. Lack of parking spaces caused them to incentivize commuting options such as carpooling, taking the bus, walking and biking.
• Ben and Jerry’s used a large map to help employees form carpools by indicating their origin towns on the map.
• Businesses encouraging healthier commuting patterns have even seen lower insurance premiums as a result.

Deb shared some key facts that demonstrate the need to encourage healthier commuting patterns:

• Almost half of greenhouse gas emissions in Vermont are from transportation, there for transportation solutions will be a key aspect of our overall effort to decrease pollution.
• There is a growing demand for annual vehicle miles traveled in Vermont: the average Vermonter drives 17,000 miles per year.
• The cost of car ownership and operation can be up to $5,000-$6,000 per year.

This year, the Way to Go! Program has added a Community Challenge. Merchants Bank is sponsoring a bike rack, which will go to the winning community. Deb encouraged the commissioners to get their selectboards to declare Way to Go! Week, passing around a sample Community Proclamation, which can also be downloaded from the web.

To wrap up the presentation, Deb took questions from commissioners and guests, who debated the pros and cons of alternative commuting patterns and explained specific challenges. Staff members at the meeting spoke in favor of changing behavior patterns in order to commute in a healthier way at least some of the time. Deb commented that even if a person is able to commute for only day a week, that saves them up to 20% of their commuting cost!

At the end of the meeting, several commissioners indicated an interest in signing up for the program and telling their communities about it.

Upcoming Meetings Schedule

• May 19th - Efficiency Vermont and Geographic Targeting in the Rutland Region. Bob Murphy of Efficiency Vermont will explain their outreach efforts in the Rutland area.
• June 16th - topic to be announced!

Resources

• Sign up for Way to Go! at www.waytogovt.org. You can also download promotional materials at the site and spread the word!
• GoVermont will be launched in June. Visit www.connectingcommuters.org.
• Businesses and individuals - take the 10% Challenge! Reduce your greenhouse gas emissions by 10%. Visit www.10percentchallenge.org to find out more.

Thanks to the Town of Shrewsbury for posting a link to Way to Go! on the town’s webpage!