Ecomunicipality.com

From the Nov. 7 issue of Isthmus, a weekly news magazine from Madison, WI:

Chuck Erickson thinks it's about time Dane County got serious in its efforts to become more sustainable. "We're trying to have a more coordinated approach," says Erickson, a county supervisor. Being green "should become part of the culture."

Together with Supv. Robin Schmidt, Erickson has proposed several amendments to the 2009 budget. One would establish a committee to oversee sustainability projects. Another would allocate $500,000 in the capital budget to create a "Green Energy/Green Jobs Project Fund."

This fund would subsidize sustainable projects by county departments. "In a lot of cases, [green building] is more expensive," says Erickson. "We make a higher purchase upfront to achieve a sustainable goal and maybe in the long run same money on utility costs."

Topf Wells, chief of staff to Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, questions the need. "There's a ton of sustainability stuff in this budget," he says. "The county executive worked hard to make a real effort there."

Falk's 2009 budget allocates $8.5 million for green initiatives, including $28,000 for a Hybrid SUV, $187,000 for solar water heating, and nearly $300,000 for new bike/pedestrian trails. Falk also wants to spend $2.3 million for a manure digester project, to convert waste into fertilizer or electricity.

But Schmidt believes that while the county has "made a good commitment to going in the right direction," more can be done. 

Earlier this year, county department heads were trained in "The Natural Step," a program that teaches employees to always consider the environment when making decisions. The city of Madison has been training its employees in the program for several years. Schmidt wants the county to spend $25,000 to train managers and staff.

"For this to be effective, we have to have buy-in from everyone," she says. "The staff themselves have a broader knowledge base from which they could identify sustainable activities."

Because the county's budget is tight, Schmidt and Erickson have offered to scale down the initial seed money for the green fund from half a million dollars to less than $100,000. 

"If there is a demand for it, we can always increase the funding next year," says Schmidt. "This is a much more reasonable amount of money to be playing with."