[August 04, 2008]

Delray Beach Green Task Force members push the green lifestyle: Ideas could strain tight budgets but could pay off later

(South Florida Sun-Sentinel (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 4--DELRAY BEACH -- Dan Sloan has a 50-foot commute. Joe Snider writes a green living column for Atlantic Ave magazine. And Nancy Schneider hypermiles -- increasing a car's gas mileage by changing the way one drives.

They are members of the city's Green Task Force and live the way they would like the city to: green.

"It's just who I am," said Schneider, chairwoman of the seven-member task force. "My dad put a solar roof on our house in the 1970s and my mom had an organic garden. We just didn't waste things."

So how does this group convince city officials to join their campaign?

"One of our big goals is to save money. That's one of the big arguments for sustainability," said Snider, an architect and green building consultant. "Our hope, however, is to save that money and roll it into other initiatives."

The task force found that a lot of the things the city already does, such as energy efficient light fixtures in city buildings, qualify Delray Beach for the lowest level of green certification with the Florida Green Building Coalition. Snider added that green building could put less of a strain on the city's infrastructure, which could save money in maintenance.

But some of their ideas have upfront costs that could be hard to stomach during a time of shrinking budgets. City officials recently voted to increase taxes to make up for what could have been an $8 million shortfall and are considering layoffs.

Commissioner Gary Eliopoulos, who has been a big supporter of green initiatives, cautions that going green may not be as feasible now as it was during the property tax bonanza.

"You're going to find that this trend is really going to take off when we get out of these hard financial times," he said. "I think at the moment it will be a sensitive situation to say, 'Let's go green.'"

Organizations such as the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives say it would be a mistake if cities were to wait for better times.

"The problem with that logic is that the price that you will pay in 10 or 15 years is far higher," said ICLEI spokeswoman Annie Strickler. "In some cases, cities will see their investment return within a year.

"Everyday citizens have been clamoring for this type of action, and there has been very little action at the federal level," she said. "So, many mayors have stepped up instead. People feel they can have more of a direct impact at the local level."

Snider said Delray Beach is fertile ground for green initiatives because of an eclectic constituency that chooses to live in a pedestrian friendly city.

"There's already an infrastructure for a more sustainable community in part because we are historic," Snider said.

And though changing municipal habits and attitudes will be the hardest challenge, Schneider said she's received tons of e-mails from city staff offering ideas on how to save money. One came from the Fire Department, where staff would like to save money by delivering mail in an energy-efficient car instead of a fire truck.

"There are so many things like that that are right there in front of us," she said. "We have to focus on educating the public, too."

Bill Moomaw, who is the director of the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy at Tufts University's Fletcher School, agrees. He sees the uncertain economic climate and high energy prices as an opportunity.

"The bad financial situation can make people and municipalities realize that going green is in their economic interest," he said. "And by the way that change can help green your house and green your city."

Moomaw was part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore for sounding the alarm about global warming. He said doing things as simple as replacing traffic lights with energy-efficient fixtures could save a city thousands in energy and labor.

"People get discouraged when they think there's nothing they can do and here is something they can do," Moomaw said. "People may object to global warming but this is about lowering the costs of operations, less waste on the landfill ... It's kind of hard for someone to object to all of those things."

Maria Herrera can be reached at or 561-243-6544.

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