The Fayette Alliance Participates in “Empower Lexington” Talks
Lettuce from Lexington Farmers Market
Over the past year, The Fayette Alliance worked with city-hall and several community leaders including Bluegrass Tomorrow, Fayette County Farm Bureau, U.K. Ag-extension, the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association, and the Lexington Tree Board to discuss how we can reduce our carbon footprint in Lexington. This is a major challenge facing our city, as the Brookings Institution listed the Lexington-Metro Area as having the largest carbon footprint, per capita, in the United States.
- Promote farmland preservation and conservation in our growth strategy.
‘ - Promote local agriculture as the best use for our rural landscape and precious Bluegrass soils.
‘ - Promote local food through improving our marketing, management, distribution, and processing of agricultural commodities in the Bluegrass Region. Education on the importance of local food-choices is key.
‘ - Promote agri-tourism both locally and regionally, through biking, walking, equine, and water trails.
‘ - Promote research and implementation of alternative energy sources, including bio-fuel and other bio-mass resources that can be grown in the Bluegrass Region.
‘ - Promote reforestation, greenways, and best-management practices of our natural resources–in both our built and rural environments in Fayette County.
Click here to comment on the plan or send feedback to energy@lexingtonky.gov.
Empowering and sustaining our city
by Campbell Wood, 1.18.2012, Business Lexington
Lexington, KY – Empower Lexington, a community-wide effort, aims to boost Lexington’s profile in sustainability while spreading energy efficiency to all sectors. The plan has been three years in the making, involving about 70 volunteer citizens combined with city government staff. It will help fulfill the city’s commitments to voluntary climate initiatives that call for sound environmental planning with greater energy efficiency.
Last November, Tom Webb, manager of Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG) environmental programs, along with sub-team leaders, discussed the plan at one of the city buildings on Red Mile Road. About 30 people attended this one in a series of meetings intended to introduce the plan and get public feedback and input.
The first step in developing Empower Lexington, said Webb, was to establish an energy baseline using 2007 to form an inventory of county-wide fossil fuel-based consumption. The data represented all sectors: commercial, residential, industrial, transportation and waste…Read more at BizLex.com