10/13/2020
A local community group focused on climate issues asked me to answer some questions. Below are those questions and my answers:
Q: What should the City of Independence do to minimize the effects of climate change on our community?
A: I think preparation and trying to mitigate our own impact as much as possible is what we can do. I believe the council has already taken a number of steps with climate change in mind. For instance, to address the concern of flooding, we have designed parks and trails to be able to withstand flood conditions. Also, the police department has acquired a vehicle that could be used as a means of making flood rescues. On the other side of things, if climate change brings extreme drought to the area, the city has acquired water rights that would allow the city to be able to secure water before many other interests. In terms of mitigating our carbon footprint, I think many of the decisions around making downtown accessible and easy to traverse on foot helps. The development near the hotel will increase the number of residents within walking distance of downtown and if we can fulfill most of their needs with the local businesses, it will reduce the need to use a car to drive elsewhere to meet those needs. Moving forward, this is the sort of decision making that I hope the council continues to follow. Keeping an eye on ways to adapt to the changes in weather that we are already seeing, which will only become more severe, while looking for ways to reduce our own impact and contribution to climate change.
Q: How would you communicate with your constituents about steps the City takes to address climate change?
A: There are times that I think the city does an excellent job at communicating steps taken to address climate change. When Independence was the pilot city for the Pacific Power smart meters, I think the mixture of media attention and the announcement and attention given by the city on their social media accounts helped inform the residents of the change. However, I do think there are times where the communication from the city could improve. I think the tools are there; but it is a learning experience. Through the information sheet included with the water bill, the city website, the Indy Works app and various social media pages, there are a multitude of ways to get information to our residents. We just need to figure out the best way to do so.
Q: What would you do to make sure actions the City took to mitigate climate change do not disproportionately affect lower income families?
A: I think it is always important to try to anticipate and recognize how changes, no matter how well intended, can have unforeseen consequences. Especially changes that disproportionately affect those of lower income. One example of this was the statewide plastic bag ban. It was pointed out to me by a good friend, who does not drive, that it is incredibly troublesome to only be allowed to purchase single use paper bags in a state that rains as much as Oregon. On the other hand, encouraging action through incentives seems to be a successful approach to inspiring change. Oregon's bottle bill is a perfect example of this. The answer is going to largely depend on the type of action being proposed. Some changes may in themselves not have a huge impact on the lower income families. For instance, a change in the building code that applies only to new construction. There are also ways to subsidize climate change action on a number of fronts. While I don't know exactly how this would look for a climate change action, I think the actions the city and others are taking in response to Covid is a good indication of how we could proceed. The city offered small business loans to help local businesses struggling from changes due to Covid. For residents who were struggling to pay bills, the city put a hold on shutting off utilities for non payment for a time. MINet has been a wonderful partner in ensuring every child in the school district can have high speed internet access at home. Those are just a few examples of ways I could see the city and local businesses reacting to help mitigate the burdens on lower income families.
Q: What steps should the City take to allow our community to adapt to the effects that historic and present carbon emissions have already baked into the climate system?
A: That's the real question. I am not going to pretend like I have a great plan in how we are going to approach climate conditions that are difficult for any of us to imagine. I think approaching the problem with flexibility and an acknowledgment that we don't have a clear picture of what climate change will look like for the area helps. I think the city has demonstrated the same sort of flexibility in how we responded to Covid. On a worldwide scale, according to almost every prediction, climate change is going to have a devastating impact on our cities. What is less certain is the impact it is going to have in specific locales. Personally, I would rather the city over prepare and not need some of the changes made than under prepare and be stuck dealing with an emergency without the means to address it.
