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Committee asks consultants to study consumption-based (scope 3) emissions inventory
Summary
Fran urged adding a consumption-based (scope 3) emissions inventory to future actions, arguing embedded emissions in goods and services often exceed local emissions; the committee instructed consultants to study the approach and include findings in plan updates, but deferred concrete targets.
Committee presenter Fran recommended the town add a consumption-based emissions inventory as a future action, arguing that emissions tied to goods and services (scope 3) often dwarf local emissions from furnaces, boilers and vehicles.
"The emissions that are attributable to the stuff that we buy ... are a lot larger than the ones that we emit in town from our boilers and furnaces and vehicles in waste," Fran said, urging the committee to treat a consumption-based inventory as a study item to be prioritized after methodological questions are answered.
Members supported the educational value of such an inventory but raised concerns about methodology and immediate policy implications; several suggested the consultants should scope a study rather than adding binding targets to the five-year plan. The chair recommended the item be included in the plan as a study to be completed next year or later, with no immediate regulation or new requirements attached.
The committee did not set new targets at the meeting; it asked consultants to investigate costs, methods and the timing for a consumption-based inventory and to report back so future goals or programs could be calibrated against the inventory results.
