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Jeff Harti

May 8, 2014
12:53

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@gabrielleloveshopkins, thank you for all the work that you have put into your proposal thus far. I look forward to reviewing it in greater detail, but in terms of your "Green Revolving Capital for the Community program idea", I would suggest you check out the Toronto Atmospheric Fund (http://www.toatmosphericfund.ca/), as they are a great example of an organization that supports (through grants and loans) members of the community, organizations, and companies to reduce their GHG emissions; all while earning a return on their investment and not relying on tax dollars to operate. I would imagine that other municipalities would be interested in replicating this approach but obviously funding the initial endowment would be tricky; though perhaps TAF's success will help make the case. Please do keep working on the proposal and my colleagues and I will provide further comments.

Sardar Mohazzam

May 8, 2014
09:54

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Great Idea! You proposed community based social marketing - one of the key challenge with CBMS is understanding the consumer personality and how people views other participants is very important. You have addressed it with “Promise to Reduce Electricity Agreement” and making people accountable through "listing the names of residents who made a commitment to reduce electricity in the local newspaper, to reinforce behavior with accountability." It sound interesting. However, voluntary agreement in the long run often fade out. Do you propose any long term institutional binding through incentive mechanism ?

Nanda Kumar Janardhanan

Jun 3, 2014
06:44

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Interesting proposal. Probably many from the policy making would find this suggestion interesting too. It will be of interest if there is any ideas or scenarios on the question of 'How much will emissions be reduced or sequestered vs. business as usual levels?'

Mark Johnson

Jun 5, 2014
09:49

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Very well written project summary statements. Suggest you leverage the Internet (vis-a-vis promote the $80 per person workshops).

Felipe De Leon

Jun 18, 2014
02:53

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Hello Gabrielle, Thank you for submitting such a well researched, well written Proposal. I suggest it would be strengthened further by thinking through and describing a process for practical implementation. For example, you might want to consider a criteria to select a good pilot location, what an actual pilot project might look like and what would be necessarry for that pilot implementation. You could then focus your efforts on meeting those specific needs and getting a successful pilot off the ground, which can then be replicated. I would also suggest that you might want to submit your Proposal in the "Shifting behavior for a changing climate" contest (https://www.climatecolab.org/web/guest/plans/-/plans/contestId/1300210) where you might look at applications for CBSM that go beyond energy efficiency. It seems this approach could be very valuable for adaptation work, particularly in relation to community based adaptation. Keep up the good work!

Mark Johnson

Jun 18, 2014
10:47

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Jharti - The Toronto Atmospheric Fund (TAF) concept is excellent. It started with an endowment of a little over $20M. TAF was recognized internationally in 2013. The actions to realize real savings are customizable "city-centric." Really great and model for all municipalities.

Climate Colab

Aug 13, 2014
04:19

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The contributor proposes a scheme to Modifying Behavior,Shifting Mindsets,and Incorporating Innovation to Reduce GHGs in three steps: i) Community based social marketing (CBSM) aiming to shift behaviors ii) Green Revolving Capital for the Community (GRCC) to provide capital for selected initiatives iii) Energy mix shifting from a fossil-fuel to alternative, zero-emissions generation The innovative part of the proposal is a bottom-up, local-focused approach on the first two steps, the third being delegated to the several existing programs. Other elements, like Smart Grids or Green Revolving Capital are also Community/local government focused, in contrary of existing approach that has been, especially in Europe, nation-wide. It is not very clear how the benefit of handling these activities at a community/local level would outweigh the inherent extra cost of all the various tools done multiple times at local level (communications, ads, infrastructure program split in several blocks, ..) Parts of this proposal have been forwarded by many others. It would be great to see some success from these type of actions but success to date has been small scale.Look to the effectiveness of home energy displays and comparative energy conservation stats on utility bills for some further insights -- the results have been mixed.Economics and the costs of these changes in behavior often win over community based social marketing, especially over time. That issue needs to be addressed.

Climate Colab

Sep 3, 2014
12:27

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The contributor proposes a scheme to Modifying Behavior,Shifting Mindsets,and Incorporating Innovation to Reduce GHGs in three steps: i) Community based social marketing (CBSM) aiming to shift behaviors ii) Green Revolving Capital for the Community (GRCC) to provide capital for selected initiatives and iii) Energy mix shifting from a fossil-fuel to alternative, zero-emissions generation. The innovative part of the proposal is a bottom-up, local-focused approach on the first two steps, the third being delegated to several existing programs. Other elements, like Smart Grids or Green Revolving Capital are also Community/local government focused, in contrary to the existing approach that has been, especially in Europe, nation-wide. It is not very clear how the benefit of handling these activities at a community/local level would outweigh the inherent extra cost of all the various tools done multiple times at local level (communications, ads, infrastructure program split in several blocks, etc.) Proposal to employ formal "Community Based Social Marketing (CBSM)" tools and a "Green Revolving Capital for the Community (GRCC)" loan fund to build support, incentivize, and pay for energy efficiency improvements and changes to electrical generation infrastructure. It is not clear why this proposal should be considered unique. Many of these approaches have already been attempted and/or are already actively being used all over the world. It is not immediately clear what is different about the current proposal. This is not a specific proposal for a set of actions specific actions to be undertaken by the proposer. Instead, this is a proposal for a high level approach (theoretically).