MISSION
The Fort Collins Sustainability Group (FCSG) develops and advocates strategies for becoming a sustainable community, with a focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions to levels consistent with a stable climate.
VISION
A sustainable community is one that enables its members to thrive, socially and economically, without compromising the welfare of future generations. It exists in harmony with our environment and other communities. We acknowledge the enormous gap between our current state, situated as we are within an extractivist, fossil fuel-dependent world economic system, and our desired future state.
OBJECTIVES
The work of the Fort Collins Sustainability Group is framed by three objectives:
1. To advocate for meeting our energy needs while minimizing our impact on global climate change.
2. To advocate for creating jobs that contribute toward the ideal of sustainability.
3. To participate in an on-going community dialogue about what it means to become a sustainable community in areas including greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and production, ecosystem health, water use, land use, transportation, food security, economic health, and social equity.
GOALS
We intend to build on our past accomplishments during the period 2005 – 2015 by achieving the following four goals over the coming decades:
1. Work with the Fort Collins City government and key stakeholders to ensure that appropriate measures are taken and sufficient resources are deployed to meet the community-wide greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals established by Council Resolution 2015-030. Those goals are to reduce emissions 20% by 2020 and 80% by 2030 with respect to 2005 levels, and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
2. Mobilize on-going community support for dedicating the resources needed to meet community-wide greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals by communicating the environmental, economic, and social benefits of doing so.
3. Work with the Fort Collins City government and key stakeholders to implement programs and policies resulting in sustainable practices in areas not directly related to greenhouse gas emissions and energy use.
4. Work with people in other communities and regions, including but not limited to other cities served by the Platte River Power Authority, to adopt and achieve greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals similar to those adopted by the City of Fort Collins.
ASSOCIATIONS
The FCSG is affiliated with the Northern Colorado Alliance for a Livable Future (NCALF), a grassroots organization comprised of several other independent affiliates in addition to the FCSG. NCALF is incorporated as a non-profit tax exempt organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. Website: https://ncalf.org/.
The FCSG is a member of the following coalitions:
1. Colorado Coalition for a Livable Climate (CCLC), which develops and advocates strategies for reducing Colorado’s greenhouse gas emissions to levels supportive of a livable climate. Website: https://colivableclimate.org.
2. Northern Colorado Partners for Clean Energy (NCP4CE), which is made up of organizations in the four municipalities that own the Platte River Power Authority (PRPA). We have a shared goal of transitioning PRPA to 100% renewable electricity by 2030. Webpage: https://colivableclimate.org/noco-partners-for-clean-energy.
3. Fort Collins Partners in Climate Action (FC PiCA), which supports Fort Collins’ Climate Action Plan and seeks to increase the pace of emissions reductions and energy conservation efforts. Website: https://sites.google.com/view/focopica/home.
Finally, the FCSG is a partner of Transition Fort Collins (TFC,Website: http://transitionfortcollins.org), which grew out of the “Northern Colorado E3 Sustainability Alliance.” For more, see the “The FCSG Story” page.