Creating A Sustainability Action Plan Framework: Greenville, SC

The City of Greenville, South Carolina currently does not have a sustainability action plan. However, the City of Greenville has taken several actions to address sustainability including City Council approval of a resolution endorsing the US Mayors’ Climate Protection Plan in 2006. This resolution enumerated several objectives, including the reduction of global warming and greenhouse gas emissions, fostering economic development, improving water and air quality, and limiting energy consumption, to create a more sustainable and livable community. In addition to endorsing this resolution, Greenville’s newly adopted comprehensive plan, Plan-­‐It-­‐Greenville, and specific performance measures within the FY 2009-­‐2010 operating budget established sustainability goals for the City. Creating a municipally-­‐initiated sustainability action plan framework will help to set in motion the process for Greenville, South Carolina to reach the goal of becoming a more sustainable city, reinforce the newly drafted comprehensive plan, address the challenges of the current Operating Budget performance measures and help attain the resolution endorsing the US Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement. To comply with all of the City Council adopted sustainability goals it will be necessary to discover which sustainability elements from the local sustainability cannon can be sustainably adopted and implemented in the City of Greenville. This research’s primary object is to identify what locally-­‐ appropriate sustainability elements for adoption and implementation in the City of Greenville, South Carolina, using a framework that synthesizes progressive municipal initiatives with peer municipal sustainability initiatives into best practices for Greenville, and informs a sequenced, coordinated, and prioritized sustainability action plan framework