By Linda Seida, Staff Writer
LAMBERTVILLE — City residents are invited to join the Environmental Commission at a reception Monday to celebrate the mayor’s signing of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.
Mayor David Del Vecchio will sign the agreement at 7 p.m. at the Justice Center at 25 S. Union St.
A simple spread of beverages and homemade goodies will be available, hosted by the commission.
More than 600 mayors from across the country have signed the agreement, pledging their support to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 7 percent below the 1990 levels by 2012.
Mayor Del Vecchio said, “Actions are important, and words are important. We’re going to do what we can to lead by example.”
”We feel that the Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement is an opportunity for communities to take real steps to avert global warming,” said Piper Trelstad, commission chairwoman. “By signing the agreement, the mayor is pledging to support initiatives and programs that reduce the city’s carbon footprint.”
Lambertville already is taking steps to reduce emissions and safeguard the environment.
”The city has taken some measures to make the community more pedestrian- and bicyclist-friendly,” Ms. Trelstad said. “Traffic-calming plans are being implemented. In addition, a number of bike racks have been installed near parks or the canal path. The city is also looking to make the municipal fleet consume less fuel and produce less greenhouse gas. For instance, the new garbage truck that is being purchased will be more fuel-efficient than the current one. Another big initiative for the city right now is the expansion of the city’s recycling program.”
Lambertville will begin recycling plastics and cardboard later this year in a new single-stream program that will allow residents to commingle all of their recyclables.
”There is a lot we’re doing, but we still have to educate people,” Mayor Del Vecchio said. “The Environmental Commission knows it has to step up its role as an educator on this.”
Ms. Trelstad said there are things individual households can do to help the environment, including switching to compact fluorescent lights, improving homes’ weatherization and making use of carpools and mass transportation.
”But before we begin working on any new initiatives, we need to understand our baseline as a city,” she said.
The commission will establish baselines for municipal and community energy consumption and for how many citizens use a renewable source of energy such as solar power, wind power or hydroelectric power. Baselines also will be established for waste generation and recycling. The commission also is interested in learning how much city residents commute on average.
”We will explore ways to improve our city’s performance and implement plans to address those items,” Ms. Trelstad said.
”We only have one planet,” Mayor Del Vecchio said. “Let’s face it. What Lambertville does is not going to change the world, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do whatever we can to make it better.”
