MILAN -- Mayor Ron Anderson is the first to admit that the western Minnesota community of Milan doesn't often share the spotlight with major cities like Seattle or Minneapolis, but in this case, he feels the association is well deserved.
No different than the two big cities, the community of Milan has recently endorsed the U.S. Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement. The community of 350 people joins 53.5 million Americans in 333 cities whose governments have voluntarily agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the spirit of the Kyoto Protocol, according to a release issued by the city.
Other Minnesota cities endorsing the agreement include Apple Valley, Burnsville, Duluth, Eden Prairie, Rochester and St. Paul. Milan and Turtle Lake in the northwestern portion of the state are the only small city signatories.
Mayor Anderson said citizens belonging to the local Milan Movers organization promoted the idea in the community.
Anderson said he brought the group's suggestion of signing the agreement to the City Council, where it was strongly endorsed. He said there are many in the community concerned about energy conservation and climate change, but they have not drawn attention to their environmental concerns. "They're doers,'' said Anderson.
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The idea of bringing attention to the effort is done with the hope that it will motivate other people and communities to invest in energy conservation and technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to Anderson.
It's proven to be a paying proposition in Milan, he said. In 2005, the city of Milan installed an off-peak electric heating system in both the municipal office building and library. It cut the city's use of fuel oil by 90 percent.
The system, built by Steffes Corporation of Dickinson, N.D., uses a computerized system that calculates weather conditions to determine how much heat energy to store during off-peak electric periods. During the night, the city purchases low-cost, off-peak power from Otter Tail Power to heat high-density ceramic bricks. During the day, the system extracts the heat from the bricks and circulates it in the buildings.
Anderson said the city projected a four-year payback when it installed the system, but it is believed now that the system will pay for itself in less than three years due to rapidly rising oil prices.
The mayor said the city is also a leader in taking advantage of geothermal heating and cooling systems manufactured by Econar in Appleton. The energy-efficient system uses heat extracted from the ground to heat buildings in winter. It reverses the system in summer to cool the buildings. The Kviteseid Lutheran Church and the Milan Elementary School buildings take advantage of the system, as do a number of private residences in the community, Anderson said.
He said there are also a number of individuals who utilize other "green'' technologies for home heating.
The mayors' agreement calls on its participants to look at 12 different areas where they can reduce greenhouse emissions.
The mayor of Seattle led the effort for U.S. cities to take action after the U.S. government failed to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. The protocol has been ratified by 141 countries, including all of the leading industrial nations with the exception of the U.S. and Australia. The protocol sets a goal of reducing greenhouse emissions by 7 percent from 1990 levels.
