tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post6519467942193070018..comments2024-03-25T17:49:41.408-07:00Comments on Salem Breakfast on Bikes: Draft Strategies for Climate Action Plan Still Evade the Heart of the MatterSalem Breakfast on Bikeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15618055627843335993noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post-31108543023337348382021-08-25T16:04:14.977-07:002021-08-25T16:04:14.977-07:00You are spot on with regards to needing more preci...You are spot on with regards to needing more precise, measurable goals. With out a target, how can you hit the mark?<br />Salem is very bad at this concept. I come from an education background where I had to create very specific benchmarks, then goals and strategies for achieving those goals. Those goals were measured frequently to see if they were being met or needed to be adjusted by adding strategies or making other modification. To set a goal of 50% would indicate failure. Can you imagine a goal for reading to say the child must learn 50% of the alphabet?<br /><br />My suggestion to staff was to create materials in a convenient form for the average person on how to reduce their mileage. Then do one for businesses and so forth. <br /><br />Examples are valuable because it encourages us to think in specifics and easy adjustments to our daily lives.<br /><br />Something that our household has been successful at doing. The pandemic has actually helped!<br />We now have reduced our annual mileage to less than 2,000 miles a year between 3 vehicle. Please, don't jump on me for having 3 vehicles because each is needed at some point, but the overall use is very low.<br /><br />Of course, every household varies, but we have found some basic changes in our lives has worked. And I am sure that with some examples and some thoughtfulness, most household can find strategies that work for them. But a lot of people need specific examples and where possible some analysis of the cost or time savings.<br /><br />My husband keeps a log of all gas purchases with a milage log. Takes just a few seconds at the pump. So, he can see his monthly milage, cost of gas and MPG. One the past few years he has seen his consumption plummet due to Covid, but to translate that savings into dollars is impressive. Going from a tank of gas every 2 months, to just 2 a year.<br /><br />In my vehicle the savings are not as dramatic because I do the shopping. But by just going shopping once a week and combining it with other errands, my milage has been cut in half. These are real savings to the environment and to our bank account!<br /><br />But here is the significant question. How do we get the Climate Action Planners off this track and onto a real and effective one?<br /><br />I make a suggestion and it gets added to the list of 173 items. But what does that help?<br /><br />Staff presented an overview of the CAP to my neighborhood association. It was so passive that when time for questions, no one had any. No one had suggestions, but me, either. That tells me that either people do not think it is about them, or they did not feel engaged, or they don't care. All of these are bad for the world's future.<br /><br />I wondered if that was the goal. To just go through the motions and say, we have a Climate Action Plan. But we really don't.<br /><br />Susann Kaltwassernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post-12603209952400417682021-08-19T08:07:48.763-07:002021-08-19T08:07:48.763-07:00Another angle is to follow-up to ask about specifi...Another angle is to follow-up to ask about specific provisions in "state guidelines" make traffic calming difficult. Find out exactly how the City justifies that stance. It is likely that at least some of those "guidelines" are not nearly as firm as the City would like us all to believe!Salem Breakfast on Bikeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15618055627843335993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post-87496621935348410002021-08-18T11:15:14.167-07:002021-08-18T11:15:14.167-07:00As a member of the Citizens Advisory Traffic Commi...As a member of the Citizens Advisory Traffic Commission (CATC) we were asked by staff at last meeting what we wanted to talk about at our next meetings. I asked about traffic calming, and was told it was a enforcement issue and that state guidelines made it difficult. At the next meeting I will ask specifically what the city can do to reduce vehicle trips.Kenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06503583638244023681noreply@blogger.com