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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-0307 Documents Submitted at Mtg C- LA P 5 - • ~.1 Hi, my name is Christopher Buckley. I'm a senior at AHS and I have to admit I'm a little biased. I like to spend a lot of time outdoors so I see effects of Climate Change that others might not. I see more than the dwindling water supplies and smoke covering the sky from the increasing number of wildfires along the west coast. I've walked across what was once the middle of multiple different lakes, including our very own Emigrant, and I've lived and worked in a forest in which a mere 10% of the trees were still alive. The rest were killed by an invasive beetle, introduced by humans, destroying countless habitats and releasing more CO2 into the atmosphere. I'm also a little biased due to the fact that I enjoy breathing clean air and drinking uncontaminated water, something I had planned to do for a good many years. I'm biased because within the last year I've honestly lost hope for my future. My Federal Government is currently denying science and rolling back regulations that once protected the environment, and we're running out of time. The process of Climate Change relentlessly builds upon itself causing the release of CO2 from forests and tundras, speeding its own effects. Unless we work tremendously hard to take action against the worst effects of climate change now, we'll have to work even harder to limit the damage and to try to continue to provide adequate nutrition and water to our communities. This is not something that is threatening future generations, this is threatening us now and we have to take all the action we can. You might be thinking "this plan won't solve all these problems" and you're right, but finally it's some action and a step forward. Ashland can lead countless other cities with this plan and more, and that will create change. Now more than ever it is our responsibility to do everything we to leave more of a legacy than dried lakes, dead forests and poisoned oceans. If we don't, years from now we'll only be able to look back with shame from our lack of action, so please, give people a reason to hope again, let people's voices be heard, and take a step forward in the right direction: pass this plan. Thank you. fa~~, c. ~s<,r, b lk-}k L~. r~ p Allie Rosenbluth Cornniuml:y Organizer Rogue Climate PO Box 180 Phoenix, OR 97535 Mayor Strornberg and distinguished council members, For the past 18 months, I have seen hundreds in our comrnunity come together to talk about taking serious action climate :action. I have witnessed dozens of teenagers find their voices in politics to stand up for their futures. I listened to flours of conversations about science-based targets and socially equitable climate action in ad hoc corrirrlittee n'ieetings. Finally, we are here- an opportrrrlity to CONTINUE Ashland's climate polhution reductions and adaptation. Today, I urge you to approve unanimously the Clirnate and Energy Action flan. However, passing the plan is only the very beginning of Ashland's journey for taking serious action on climate change. The city, along with our cornrnunity, must stay diligent to ensure that the outcomes of the plan will not disproportionately impact Iow income cormuni ies, young people, comrnur►ities of color, or community members who are elderly or disabled and that these communities actually benefit from the outcon-res of the plan---for exarnpie, prioritizing weatherization . These communities must not be displaced by higl-'rer costs or additional burdens. It is important that these groups have a voice in developing our policies--and that these cortamunmes are represented on the Permanent LEAP comiT-rissior7. f\dditionally, early this summer the Clirnate and Energy ad hoc cornn'nttee unanirr7orrsly agreed to support an ordinance to integrate the goals of the plan into our city law through an ordinance. The ordinance Is based off of the City of Eugene's climate recovery ordinance. The ordinance sets up an accountability mechanisrn for a bi-annual review of our city and our communities progress in reaching our goals, if we are reaching our goals, and how we plan on reaching thern next year. The ordinance sets up a route for cornmunity engagement, which is a huge part of why CEAP process has been so successful, acrd it holds us accountable to doing everything we can to do our part to keep the world at a livable conditior►, and to help our comrmriity transition to clean energy. Please take this first step, approve the Clirnate and Energy Action Plan and support the ordinance-so we can ensure that Climate Action in, Ashland is something that works for everyone in our cornnaunity. C~ an ~ G4.. A p I am so excited to be here today to support the Climate Energy and Action Plan. The goals outlined in the plan are absolutely necessary for Ashland to fulfill its obligation to protect its citizens and take responsibility for the role that we play in the national and global community. While I applaud the work that has been put into the plan, it is not enough. Any question asked about climate change is undeniably a question about what kind of future we want, and when it comes to that matter I don't have any hesitation in saying that we need to take every action possible to ensure the protection of our future (and that no action is too bold). As I consider what the future holds for me, it is impossible for me not to consider the impact that climate change will have on my health, safety and security. That is why I have been coming to these meetings, and will continue to come, and promote a socially equitable and science based ordinance along with this plan. While current council members may support climate action there is no mechanism in the current plan to ensure that future leaders will work to carry out the objectives being voted on today. Without and ordinance the conditions set forth in the plan have no guarantee of being fulfilled. Under the proposed ordinance a permanent Climate Action Commission will be established to monitor the implementation of the plan to make sure it is in line with the most current science and socially equitable and they will create annual benchmarks to ensure the fulfillment of the action promised in the plan. A representative will be assigned to report progress every 2 years to the city council and designate additional steps if we are not meeting our goals. The goals in the plan proposed today, and the ordinance, span multiple decades and setting out ideals is simply not enough to ensure that we decrease our GHG emissions to meet levels deemed crucial by scientists. The ordinance is designed to protect the environment and citizens without hurting the city. Eugene passed one and the city has not seen negative fiscal effects. The passage of this ordinance would be a huge success for the youth, the climate, our city and our future. Thank you. n r. ~vti k-~e ~~r OL Crc- w ~ 3• ~.~1 TESTIMONY BEFORE ASHLAND CITY COUNCIL MARCH 7, 2017 REGARDING CLIMATE AND ENERGY ACTION PLAN ED FINKLEA ASHLAND RESIDENT My name is Ed Finklea and I am a resident of Ashland. I have been an energy attorney for 35 years, working primarily in the Pacific Northwest. I appreciate the opportunity to submit written testimony to the City Council in lieu of speaking this evening, as my work has me out of town. I am testifying regarding the Climate and Energy Action Plan. While I support the goals articulated of achieving an 8 percent per year reduction in carbon dioxide emission from now until 2050, I caution against having any goals becoming ordinances. There is a great deal of uncertainty regarding how such goals could be achieved, not over whether the world would be better off if they could be achieved. Many in the energy field envision a world by 2050 where thanks to technological achievements that have not yet been attained, a world exists in which all of humanity would enjoy the level of mobility, goods and services and comfort that today's residents of Ashland enjoy, without emitting any carbon dioxide. The Climate and Energy Action Plan at page 31 envisions an all-electric world where all the energy that is consumed today is first made into electricity by generation sources that emit no carbon dioxide. Then that quantity of kilowatt hours would have to be delivered over an electric grid that can reliably deliver all the energy that will be consumed in Ashland by 2050, including all modes of transportation and all sources of space and process heating demand that are currently met with fossil fuel energy. That is not close to the world we live in today and it won't be even by 2050 unless transformational technologies have been discovered and implemented in how electricity is generated, stored and transmitted. It is the realities of physics that leads me to caution the City Council not to adopt by ordinance any carbon dioxide emission reduction levels for any particular year. The policies of the City of Ashland should facilitate the transition to a zero carbon dioxide world, but the City of Ashland cannot mandate that outcome. If such a goal is achieved in Ashland by 2050, it will also have been achieved throughout the world because of a coming technological revolution. Bill Gates has termed this an Energy Miracle in a compelling interview in the Atlantic in the Fall of 2015. If those technological changes do not come about, however, Ashland cannot mandate that its residents will live in a zero carbon world. In going forward, the City of Ashland should provide much more depth to the notion that the economy can be completely electrified with all zero carbon sources of electric generation. Has the city estimated how many more kilowatt hours of electricity would be needed if all transportation and space and process heat demand was met by electricity rather than oil and natural gas? How would that much electricity be generated without having dramatic impacts on the environment? How could that much electricity be transmitted and distributed without upgrades in the transmission and distribution networks? What would be the cost of electrifying the entire economy? Can it be done at all without fossil fuel or nuclear generation? Instead of an all-electric world, will the transportation sector run on hydrogen fuel? I urge the City Council to take seriously the charge of helping facilitate the transition to a zero carbon dioxide energy system. Our City has a role in this transition. Our City, cannot, however, mandate an outcome. Thank you for considering my written testimony.