William Shakespeare famously said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Apparently, the City of Fort Collins believes rebranding its Climate Action Plan (CAP) will convince residents to support it. Recently staff provided an update regarding efforts to move from the planning stage to implementation. The goal of the plan is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020.
As the City has developed messaging and engagement strategies, “staff has heard
from the community that more diverse messaging is needed to best engage the community – e.g., one person might be interested in low-cost measures such as energy efficiency, another is interested in environmental impacts, and yet another may be focused on health-related outcomes such as cleaner air for their family.” Until a formal branding effort can be developed, staff developed the slogan “Road to 2020: Forging an Efficient Future.” “This messaging is designed and intended to be more inclusive in an effort reach a broader group of residents and businesses.” The fact that the CAP has generated criticism in the business community in particular, which questions the costs associated with the plan, is not coincidental.
The staff is planning to research the means by which other communities have funded their CAPs. It is scheduled to present information on those options at another work session in January 2017.
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