Photo: ICLEI-USA

ICLEI USA launches new software to help cities fight carbon pollution

19 March 2014

by Richard Forster

ICLEI USA has released Climate Pathways, a brand new, comprehensive programme of tools, training and technical support designed to help local governments and their sustainability teams measure, plan for, and reduce emissions and energy use.

“Given the growing local threats posed by climate change to our communities– including floods, droughts, extreme storms, hurricanes, and wildfires–it is increasingly incumbent upon our cities and local governments to do their part to reduce the carbon pollution emissions that cause global warming,” said Michael Schmitz, Executive Director, ICLEI USA– Local Governments for Sustainability. “Working with our hundreds of local government members and the thousands of cities and counties across the country, we are very excited to provide ground-breaking measuring and planning tools that will help these local governments save money and energy in the face of climate change.”

Among the resources bundled with Climate Pathways is ClearPath, a new energy and emissions planning tool available free to ICLEI members. Replacing ICLEI’s Clean Air and Climate Protection (CACP) software–the previous industry standard for tracking local carbon emissions–ICLEI USA’s ClearPath is as an all-inclusive suite of cloud-based tools for local governments to conduct emissions inventories and forecasts and to prepare climate action plans for their towns, counties, and cities.

“The new ClearPath tool builds upon the accuracy and thoroughness of CACP, while improving reliability and the user experience,” said Bryce Dias, Program Manager at the Great Valley Center. “Since the program is web-based, my team no longer worries about software compatibility and can share inventory information in real-time.”

Specifically, ClearPath will create baseline and subsequent inventories, track emissions progress over time, and forecast multiple scenarios for future emissions, with and without local reduction actions. ICLEI USA experts will also be on hand to provide support and assistance to local governments participating in the Climate Pathways programme and using the ClearPath software.

“ICLEI has been very responsive to our questions, providing live webinars, technical assistance and speaking one-on-one via phone to guide us through the inventory and forecasting process, drawing on their experience working with hundreds of other municipalities,” said Ted Terrasas, Environmental Manager in the city of Monterey, California.

While ClearPath will be offered free for ICLEI members via the ICLEI USA website, non-ICLEI members and third-parties will be able to purchase a use license for an annual fee. Additionally, a trial version, ClearPath Lite, will be available to signatories to the Resilient Communities for America campaign, and for a limited time to any local government that wishes to test-run the tool for a 60-day period.  Through a partnership with the major investor-owned utilities in California–the Statewide Energy Efficiency Collaborative (SEEC)–any local government in the state can use SEEC ClearPath California free of charge.

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