CA-CP Intern Tallies CT Town’s Emissions

This past summer, Mike Bilheimer joined Clean Air-Cool Planet’s team of interns working to calculate greenhouse gas emissions in cities and towns throughout New England. Based in Windham, Conn., Mike used two tiers of information to reach his emissions results: the power company data that supplies the Windham community with electricity, and the billing records of individual municipal buildings, such as the town hall, the fire and police complex, and others. With this information plugged into a formulaic carbon calculator, he generated data that shows how much the town is producing in carbon dioxide. From there, Clean Air-Cool Planet will work with Windham officials to devise a plan to reduce those emissions and the amount of municipal funds spent on energy.

Mike says one of the biggest obstacles was articulating what form and type of information he needed from various sources. Often he was left to paw through municipal records himself. This fall, Mike is off to the New Jersey Institute of Technology, where he plans to pursue a degree in environmental policy. His short stay in Windham left behind a powerful assessment tool, which the town can now use to reduce its contribution to global warming.

To read Mike’s report, click here (PDF 186K).

--Katurah Mackay