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Buildings Contribute To Emissions, Climate Change

Orlando's Director of the Office of Sustainability & Resilience says buildings contribute to climate change. Pictured is the downtown Orlando skyline as seen from Lake Eola.

If this unusually warm winter weather has you thinking about climate change, you’re not alone.

Activists around the world and in the United States are growing increasingly urgent and forceful about the need to take bold steps to reduce carbon emissions to fight the dangerous effects of a warming planet.

Credit Denise Smith Amos / The Florida Times-Union
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The Florida Times-Union
Warmer than usual temperatures greeted participants of the 30th annual Jacksonville Beach Polar Plunge on New Year's Day.

Jacksonville saw a high of 83 degrees on January 1, 2019 - the city’s hottest New Year’s Day on record.

Several local leaders around the state are stepping up and taking action. They’re investing in clean energy solutions to protect their communities.
 
Chris Castro is Director of the Office of Sustainability & Resilience for the City of Orlando.
 
“We found that buildings were about three-fourths of all the emissions associated with Orlando. We became the first city in Florida to pass a building benchmarking and transparency policy. It requires the largest buildings to disclose their energy use and cost of utilities in their buildings every year,” said Castro.

Castro said Orlando is also promoting renewable energy and electrifying its city buses and fleets as a way to reduce carbon emissions.

You can listen to the full interview with Castro on First Coast Connect.

Melissa Ross can be reached at mross@wjct.org, 904-358-6382 or on Twitter at @MelissainJax.

Photo used under Creative Commons license.

Melissa Ross joined WJCT in 2009 with 20 years of experience in broadcasting, including stints in Cincinnati, Chicago, Orlando and Jacksonville. During her career as a television and radio news anchor and reporter, Melissa has won four regional Emmys for news and feature reporting.