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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016.05.04 CEAP Minutes Minutes for the Climate and Energy Action Plan ad hoc Committee May 4,2016 Page 1 of 4 MINUTES FOR THE CLIMATE & ENERGY ACTION PLAN ad hoc COMMITTEE Wednesday, May 4, 2016 Siskiyou Room, 51 Winburn Way 1. Call to Order Councilor Rich Rosenthal called the meeting to order at 3:01 p.m. Committee members Stuart Green, Roxane Beigel-Coryell, Bryan Sohl, Louise Shawkat, Isaac Bevers, Marni Koopman, Sarah Lasoff, James McGinnis, Jim Hartman, Cindy Bernard, and Claudia Alick were present. Staff member Adam Hanks was present. Consultant Andrea Martin was on the phone. 2. Approval of minutes Group suggested edits to the minutes. McGinnis/Alick m/s to approve minutes of April 20, 2016 as amended. Voice Vote: all ayes. Motion Passes. 3. Public Input James Stephens: He apologized to the group for snickering at the last meeting at the team- building exercise in which the group participated. He stated that he had an epiphany that even though the world is falling apart and full of doom and gloom, he is not going to stay negative, because this group is aware of and working on those problems. He stated that energy and electric vehicles are his greatest concern and he wants to find the truth regarding our energy production. He encouraged the group to focus on locally generated energy production. Phil Miller: He stated that he and his wife, Susan Berry-Hill, have been out of their home since last year due to damage caused by smoke from last year's wildfires. He stated that Ashland is the smokiest corner of the valley and described some of the damage done to their home. He had a report for the group regarding the hazards caused by wildfire smoke, as well as its direct effect on climate. Susan Berry-Hill: Stated that due to the retardant used on the wildfires last year getting in to their home everything touched by it is covered in formaldehyde and has been damaged. They are trying to get their insurance company to help take care of this damage but have had no success thus far. Zander Houston: Thanked the committee for their work. He is a middle school student and is excited to see a climate action plan being created in his own community. This is important to him because he spends lots of time in nature, enjoying things like backpacking, and would like to make sure that resource is available for future generations. He would like the plan to be legally binding through an ordinance and it should be based on the best-possible science. Minutes for the Climate and Energy Action Plan ad hoc Committee May 4,2016 Page 2 of 4 Nova Rey Watson: Stated that he is six-years old and lives in Oregon. He has been watching shows about animals dying due to climate change. The one he just watched was about whales dying due to oil spills. There have been many of these accidents over the years. He thanked the group for what they are doing. Carson Barry: Thanked group for their work and for allowing high school students to speak. She agreed with Zack's testimony regarding wanting this to be a legally binding ordinance. She stated that approving this document without an ordinance feels like a teacher not giving students work but still expecting them to graduate. She would like the legally binding ordinance to be based on the best-possible science. Conlan Ellis: He is also a high school student and would also like to talk about having an ordinance. This is important to him and should be important to everyone—not just people here in Ashland. He would like us to have an ordinance similar to the one in-place in Eugene. There have been lots of plans passed in other cities, but no incentive for cities to work on them or move forward with actions from those plans. An ordinance will help us move the plans along. Ken Crocker: The appreciates the work the group is doing as well as the variety of ages participating. He is curious about the overall scope of the plan and the community participation and wonders who determines that scope. Would like the report to go beyond metrics and be more of a vision for the community 50-years from now. What would that vision look like? Stated that there is a pitfall involved with jumping too quickly to actions rather than imagining what the community 50 years from now will look back on and say, `wow, we're glad we took those steps.' Things change dramatically in 50 years and we shouldn't limit ourselves. What will we be glad to say we did and what will we wish we had done? Hannah Sohl: Stated that her group is happy to draft the ordinance, if that's helpful. The Eugene ordinance was important because it was integrated into all sectors. It is also important to have staff more involved in order to move this forward. Huelz Gutchen: Stated that he records the meetings and has listened to the group's last meet two times. He told the group that they need to sit up straight and speak up. Stated that this is quite a gathering and thanked the group for their work. 4. Around the Room Group did an around the room team building regarding what book they recently enjoyed reading. 5. Review of Climate Plan Goals and Targets Hanks asked the group if his summary of goals and targets (in packet) adequately conveys the message they intended. Martin (via phone) stated that Cascadia is taking all the input, as well as that collected at the open house to help prioritize and lend focus to the goals and targets for the draft plan. She did want to know how the group wanted to organize the action areas/sectors. Minutes for the Climate and Energy Action Plan ad hoc Committee May 4,2016 Page 3 of 4 Group discussed whether other plans have included a focus on offsets. Martin stated that it depends on the final goal of the plan—i.e. those plans aiming for 100% reduction may use carbon offsets to "fill-in" missing reduction to achieve the goal. However, use of offsets is not typically articulated in the plans. Group discussed consumption and whether it is part of other plans. Martin stated that it is typically dealt with separate from most plans, as even if reductions are achieved there isn't a way for those reductions to be reflected in numbers. This is because consumption numbers are mostly regionally based. Group discussed the need to do a cost/benefit analysis for all goals, in order to understand what is achievable. Group discussed whether pursuing a legally binding ordinance would be something they are interested in. They agreed that this discussion should be on the agenda for the next meeting. 6. Open House #1 Overview Martin reviewed the draft event plan (in packet). Jeff Golden, who is working with Cascadia on the open house, stated that this is the opportunity to invest the rest of the process with energy and to get people who normally would not participate to become ambassadors for the plan. Group discussed ways to use this event to create a community vision and to encourage thinking/understanding of the co-benefits and social issues related to the plan. Group mostly agreed that while climate change is a global concern, most people have better buy-in when they think locally. Alick stated that while she likes the bones of the proposed event plan, it is lacking some heart. How can the group engage emotions so that people leave more excited than they came? Group discussed some options for getting more emotional buy-in. Some options given included video of people stating what they write on the Station#4 dry erase boards, using pictures in addition to the word cloud at station#5, etc. Beigel-Coryell asked how Cascadia will be getting input from larger community entities such as SOU, AHS, ACH, etc. Martin stated that they will be doing one-on-one interviews with those agencies. Group discussed the best ways to encourage participation in the event. Determined that invitations from committee members is helpful, in addition to the more targeted invitations, press releases, and social media messaging City staff will be doing. 7. GEOS Polling Project Update Koopman handed out the draft poll created by GEOS. She stated that it can't be lengthened (no extra questions added) but if the group has any comments, they can send them to her. GEOS is Minutes for the Climate and Energy Action Plan ad hoc Committee May 4,2016 Page 4 of 4 targeting 2,000 people with the survey. The group thanked her and GEOS for working on this poll. Koopman departed the meeting S:03 p.m. 8. Open House Outreach Plan Hanks asked the group to give their opinion on the two draft flyers (in the packet). The group generally preferred option#1. Some worried it had too many words to attract attention. They requested a few minor changes to the flyer, including adding a clearer title of the event and changing, "Be heard. Be engaged"to, "we want to hear from you." Martin agreed Cascadia would make those changes. Group discussed whether the second open house should be held on a weekend. Agreed that Sunday, late afternoon was a good option. 9. Next Meeting The next meeting will be May 18 at 5:30 p.m. Group discussed whether extending the meetings to two hours might be helpful to prevent discussions from being rushed or incomplete, particularly as this is a rather large committee. Rosenthal stated that he wants to remain considerate of people's time but is also understanding of the amount of work and the size of the group. Group agreed that, as necessary, they are willing to extend the meeting times. 10. Adjournment Meeting adjourned at 5:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Diana Shiplet, Executive Assistant