Lewisburg adopts Climate Action Strategy - Sunbury Daily Item

Lewisburg adopts climate action strategy | News | dailyitem.com

LEWISBURG — The borough of Lewisburg wants to achieve net-zero carbon emissions within 27 years.

Detailed in an 83-page climate action strategy, the goal is to have a 50 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from 2019 levels by 2035 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2025. The borough council members recently unanimously adopted the report following a two-year study and review of emissions data and policies.

"It really demonstrates how such plans need to be localized and specific to the lived reality of those people who live there," said Shaunna Barnhart, place studies program director with Bucknell Center for Sustainability and the Environment. "The state has its own plan, but it doesn't scale down. Being able to have this localized, it resonates with the residents who actually live here."

A net-zero goal recognizes that there will still be emissions but that these emissions are offset by carbon sequestration strategies. To reflect this, the 2050 net-zero goal shows an 80 percent reduction in emissions, according to the study.

The Local Climate Action Plan (LCAP) program is an initiative of the state Department of Environmental Protection that partners with local governments, universities and non-profit ICLEI—Local Governments for Sustainability. The program supports local government action toward climate action plans and provides technical assistance and software to those entities interested in participating.

The borough partnered with Bucknell University and Lewisburg Neighborhoods to conduct the research. This was the third LCAP program for Bucknell — the others included Shamokin and a consortium of governments in Montgomery County.

"This program runs for one year," said Barnhart. "At the end of one year, we had the greenhouse gas inventory complete and the draft plan complete. It took us another year to refine."

Transportation

Maggie McConnell, a Bucknell research intern who graduated in 2022, led the greenhouse gas inventory. She now works as AmeriCorps Environmental Resilience VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) in Shamokin.

McConnell took utility data from UGI and Citizen's Electric and transportation data from Google's Environmental Insights Explorer (EIE) and used ClearPath software to convert the information into emissions. McConnell's work showed that transportation poses the most significant source of greenhouse gasses, representing 58.7 percent of all emissions in the borough.

Lewisburg's per capita transportation emissions measured in metric tons of CO2 equivalent are higher at 6.07 than the national rate of 5.71, state of 4.66 and a comparable town of Millersville at 4.03, according to the study.

In total, Lewisburg has emissions equalling 10.35 metric tons of CO2 per capita compared to 18.64 statewide, 20.02 nationwide and 8.79 in Millersville, according to the study.

The data included not only citizens but visitors in town, including families from Bucknell, as well as emissions data from Bucknell University studies from 2019. The study did not include emissions from the trash or garbage sector, said Barnhart and McConnell.

Community surveying shows broad support for improved active transportation options and infrastructure as essential to the borough's future with 79 percent stating that it is important for the borough to encourage more walking and biking and 83 percent reporting that a bikeable community is important for Lewisburg's future.

Task force

The next step was to assemble a task force of 19 people, including borough and university officials, architects, students, Union County officials, planning officials, and local nonprofits. They were presented with the emissions report and participated in a series of brainstorming sessions to create objectives and action items to solve the emissions issue.

This plan identifies 13 community-informed strategic objectives with 53 measurable action items in the areas of transportation, energy, buildings, waste, flooding reduction and response, carbon sequestration, and disaster risk reduction.

Some of those objectives include encouraging more efficient vehicles and resilient transportation systems; reducing vehicle miles traveled by 50 percent by 2050; creating a culture of alternative transportation; improving energy resilience and efficiency for existing and new buildings; reducing solid waste; improving resilience to flooding by restoring, protecting, and conserving community water resources; and growing and maintaining a healthy tree canopy and diverse ecosystems, among others.

Achievements

Taylor Lightman, the director of Lewisburg Neighborhoods, said a number of items have already been achieved. The Borough Council will vote in their July meeting to approve changes to its zoning ordinance to allow for more dense development and walkable neighborhoods. The borough conducted a flood study that provided concrete recommendations to strengthen floodplain management outside of the 100-year zone and stormwater management.

In July, Lewisburg Neighborhoods will begin sending "The Enlightener," a borough newsletter, to all residents, not just homeowners. The borough has welcomed LamaTrek, a micro-mobility company offering electric scooters, said Lightman.

The borough has also purchased an electric mower and Lewisburg Neighborhoods has purchased a public bicycle pump, said Lightman.

'Right direction'

The borough council members at the June 20th public meeting unanimously adopted the plan. Lightman praised the council for adopting the plan.

"It’s easy to make speeches, it’s easy to say things and not follow up," said Lightman. "It’s much harder to assemble a 19-person task force and gather data and have our government commit to really significant reductions in carbon emissions. It’s a step in the right direction."

Lewisburg Mayor Kendy Alvarez in the strategy document said climate can be an opportunity for communities across the globe to come together and create a better world that is more healthy, equitable, and sustainable.

"This is the approach that Lewisburg aspires to," said Alvarez. "This climate action plan highlights key ways we want our borough to change for the better. We want a borough that is walkable and bike-able, exceptionally prepared to deal with flooding and other disasters, more energy efficient, and robustly green with a large variety of healthy, native street trees."

The plan is not a law or ordinance, so the borough is not mandated to follow the guidelines.

"It is articulation of where we want to be, and the commitments to our planet," said Lightman.

The full report is available for public view on Lewisburg Neighborhoods' website at https://lewisburgneighborhoods.org/priorities/community-planning.