Town-Green of Oakland California is teaming with the National Charrette Institute NCI of Portland Or

Town-Green of Oakland, California, is teaming with the National Charrette Institute (NCI) of Portland, Oregon, on a $180,000 pilot project called Emerald Cities, designed to help the City of Tracy, California, meet climate, energy, and environmental goals. Town-Green is using ICLEI software to analyze the energy and greenhouse gas sources for Tracy, a Central Valley city of 81,000 people near Stockton. Two workshops are planned in November and December to create a plan to reduce the city’s environmental impact. The plan could become a model for municipalities throughout California, and even the rest of the country — assuming other states follow Calfornia’s lead in setting goals to reduce greenhouse gases and energy use. Town-Green and NCI are working with subcontractors Strategic Economics, for economic analysis, and ICF Jones & Stokes, for technical environmental expertise. See www.emeraldtracy.org