Bronwyn's Council Review

As usual for the review, my comments are red and italicized in the context of the latest Council Preview by David Martin.
 

The Ames City Council meets on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall.  The agenda includes the following. Note that you can generally click on individual agenda items below to get the full staff report or other explanation.
 

• Workshop on Climate Action Plan. In this meeting, the Climate Action Plan (CAP) project team will update Council on where we are in the CAP process and report the results of a recent community survey on climate goals. Council is now being asked to select an emissions reduction target to guide the further development of the plan. As our Sustainability Solutions Group consultants state on one of their slides, "A target does not guarantee success or a pathway forward." Rather, a target is a broad orienting feature—a "north star"—that we agree will serve to guide us in the development and implementation of the plan. 
  
  The numerical survey results point to a strong community preference for the "science based fair share" target, which aims for the most rapid reductions in emissions among the spectrum of options we've been discussing. But it's important to note that the survey was not performed via random sampling of the community; rather, the survey was broadly promoted and individuals decided individually whether to participate. As the introductory memo states, "Selecting an emissions reduction target for Ames has engaged many citizens with strong feelings about the appropriate goal for this community. The need to balance the perspectives of those who want to take aggressive action in conjunction with others who are concerned about financial impact remains challenging." The more than 50 pages of written comments attached to the survey results are fascinating reading. They reveal both a strong sense of urgency from many and a notable amount of opposition to implementing change (albeit in smaller numbers).
  
  The project team has also met with and heard from Supplemental Input Committee members, who were invited to engage with people from representative sectors throughout the community (business, schools, health care, faith communities, etc.). In light of all of this feedback, including their previous conversations with Council, SSG is recommending an "evidence-based" approach, described as "a process to develop a bottom-up pathway for the city to inform a target that reflects local circumstances in Ames and the effort required to address climate change." It's hard to predict where Council deliberation will go during this meeting.
  
  Note: given that separate, intentional community outreach efforts on this topic are being presented, I think it's unlikely that the public will be invited to speak during this part of the meeting. You can always reach the Mayor and Council through the email address listed above.
  
  After a presentation by staff and the consultants covering a review of the process, feedback to date, and the target options presented to Council at our last meeting, Council was asked to make a decision on how to move forward. The consultants, feeling hesitation from Council about the costs associated with eventually implementing our Climate Action Plan, recommended the "evidence based" approach. The evidence based approach, as opposed to the other options, didn't have a specific target for greenhouse gas reduction. Instead, it would have involved the consultants giving us a menu of options for lowering GHG, and Council (over time and presumably over the course of multiple Council terms) would have selected options to pursue based on cost and feasibility. This evidence based approach could potentially get us to similar results, just without a stated target.
  
  Instead of following this recommendation, Council voted 5-1 (Gartin voting nay) to pursue the "science based" approach, plus equity. This approach sets our target at an 83% reduction by 2030, and net zero by 2050. In doing this, Council wanted to send a message that we value a strong target. As Council members mentioned at the workshop prior to the vote, this is not meant to be merely posturing...a strong target can serve as a motivator to action. As I mentioned at the meeting, now is the time for Ames to step up and take what responsibility we can for the climate, not only for ourselves here and now, but for the global community and future generations. 
  
  Now that the target is set, the real work begins. In January we have Council Goal Setting, and we begin work on the budget, both of which will be affected by our decision to pursue the science-based-plus-equity target for greenhouse gas reduction. 

Communications to Council: None this week!

Thanks for reading,
Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen
Ames City Council, At Large