The average Falcon household produces almost twice the carbon footprint as a downtown Colorado Springs household, and almost three times as much as some Southern California neighborhoods. Factors determining the carbon footprint include daily commutes to Colorado Springs, heating requirements in Coloradoís cold winters and Mountain View Electric Associationís heavy use of coal-produced electricity.A University of California at Berkeley study published in the 2014 edition of Environmental Science and Technology calculated average household carbon footprints for 31,000 zip codes across the country. ìSuburbs alone count for 50 percent of total U.S. household carbon footprints,î according to the paper written by Christopher Jones and Daniel Kammen. ìWe find consistently lower HCF in urban areas and higher carbon footprints in outlying suburbs.îCarbon dioxide emissions by coal-fired electricity generation plants add to the total carbon footprint of the Rocky Mountain and Midwest states, according to the paper. Rural electrical cooperatives tend to use more coal because of lower costs and the availability of coal mines in the region.The utilities disagree that CO2 produced by these plants have a significant impact on the environment. ìWe all remember that we breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide,î said Jim Heron, chief executive officer of Mountain View Electric Association. ìTherefore, it has come to pass that federal government is going to regulate the air you breathe.îThe UC Berkeley study states that an average household in Falcon emits 65.5 metric tons of CO2 equivalents each year. Only 8.6 tons of this is from energy production. About 27 tons are emitted during the 3,432 miles per month of vehicle travel per Falcon family.ìIf you just figure the drive to town, you might as well figure on average 12 miles just to get to the first possible destination, and that doesnít include coming back out or going to Monument and back,î said Brian Swanson, a Falcon resident who commutes into Colorado Springs frequently for his business consulting company. A family closer to downtown Colorado Springs only emits between 10 and 15 metric tons of CO2 equivalents because of their reduced transportation needs, according to the study.Falcon metropolitan districts reviewed ways to save money and carbon at their energy-intensive water and sewer plants and other facilities. The Meridian Ranch Service board discussed changing the lights in the recreation center and district buildings to LED lights. Tim Hunker, district manager, said the savings in energy costs were not enough to cover the material and labor costsrelated to switching from the current relatively efficient compact fluorescent lighting. ìWeíre already changing the metal halide lights outside as they go out, and those were the real energy hogs,î Hunker said. ìMost of our energy use isnít from lighting but from the water pumps and sewer plants.îìDifferences in the size, composition and location of household carbon footprints suggest the need for tailoring of greenhouse gas mitigation efforts to different populations,î Jones and Kammen wrote. The focus on regulations that reduce suburban and Rocky Mountain / Midwest emission rates makes organizations like MVEA nervous. New Environmental Protection Agency proposed regulations on greenhouse gas emissions from electricity plants will unfairly impact communities like Falcon that primarily use coal, said Heron, at the MVEA annual meeting in June.ìProposals were revealed that show what new and existing coal plants would have to comply with,î Heron said. ìIt would basically ban new coal plants and also require we mothball existing coal plants. It is a big concern for affordable and dependable electricity moving forward.î Tri-State Generation and Transmission, the energy producer that supplies power to MVEA, publishes ìYour Familyís Energy Guide,î which has helpful hints and record-keeping charts to help customers makeenergy-saving improvements to their home and track savings.Zipcode level maps of household carbon footprint averages across the country that were created by the UC Berkeley study are available at http://coolclimate.berkeley.edu/maps.
