The Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission (MVRPC) received a climate action planning grant from the US EPA last month.
Commission officials said the one million dollar grant will be used to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions in the region that are fueling climate change.
The planning commission will use the money to help jurisdictions in the area develop plans for how to best inventory greenhouse gas emissions, set goals to cut them, and select strategies to meet those goals.
Matt Lindsay, Manager of Environmental Planning with MVRPC, said getting that inventory of local emissions is an important first step in the climate action planning process.
“You asked me about how we are doing in this region in terms of greenhouse gas emissions," Lindsay said. "The answer is: we don't know.”
Lindsay said that in about two years his organization hopes to have a complete regional climate action plan in place. He said once they have that plan, they will be eligible to apply for more federal EPA grant funding to execute it.
“There has not been, to our knowledge, a comprehensive greenhouse gas emissions inventory performed for our region in the past." He said, "So that's one of the things we are required to achieve under the terms of this grant.”
