19 months after council declared a climate emergency, admin is putting forth the final version of Edmonton’s climate action plan. They’re doing it the day after tomorrow! (Yes, I’m late on this.)
The Plan
The plan is called the Revised Community Energy Transition Strategy (it’s here, all 175 pages of it). And here’s the thing: it’s good. It’s really good.
- It organizes our opportunities to reduce CO2 into four big “pathways”:
- Renewable and Resilient Energy Transition (greening our electricity and heating)
- Emissions Neutral Buildings (insulation and good windows)
- Low Carbon City and Transportation (dense urban form, reducing car trips and increasing bike/walk/transit trips)
- Carbon Capture and Nature Based Solutions
The strategy takes a clear-eyed gaze into the challenges and opportunities that we face, and proposes real solutions. Here are some thoughts:
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- The way that our municipalities are set up in Canada, cities have the least amount of money (they receive only about 8% of every tax dollar).
- Therefore, we will need dollars from the provincial and federal governments to move the plan along.
- Our biggest lever, then, is #3 above: Low Carbon City and Transportation. That’s because Edmonton has a large degree of control over zoning and the allocation of our street space.
- For more details, I tweeted about the plan last Sunday.
Help Us Take Action
So, this plan goes to council on Monday. You can make a difference in two ways:
- Email your councillor. (see below)
- Speak to council on Monday, April 12. (virtually)
- The report will go to Executive Committee at 9:30am. Unfortunately, you can’t know exactly when you’ll be called upon. However, if you are registered and aren’t available when your turn comes up, there’s no downside (so if you can, you should try and speak!).
- Presentations to council are very powerful. This is your most impactful action.
- To register to speak, email [email protected] or (better) call them on Monday morning (780-496-8178). They are very accommodating, and they will give you instructions on addressing council.