Climate Corner – Climate change and global warming resolution

MAY 11, 2019 MEETING

Whereas there is a deep concern for causes and effects of Climate Change through Global Warming, the Windsor Park Neighborhood Association (WPNA) urges governments, groups and individuals at all levels to take strong rapid action to reduce climate warming – “mitigate” global warming as recommended by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).

WPNA urges the Austin City Council, the State of Texas’ governing and enforcement bodies, and the US government to enact policies strong enough to make these bodies global leaders in action to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.  We also urge all local, state, and federal utility agencies and energy providers to transition to renewable energy grids by 2030.

WPNA takes no political position regarding parties, groups, or individuals or politicians, and urges governments to rapidly adopt the following policies on a nonpartisan basis:

At the city and regional level, efforts to reduce emissions and build resilient infrastructure including, but not limited to:

• Reform the land use code to slow the rate of growth of urban sprawl, taking into consideration the concerns of neighborhoods;
• Reduce single-occupancy trips via radical improvement to public transit system ridership capacity and utilization;
• Fully fund the Austin Bicycle & Sidewalk Master Plans;
• Subsidize and incentivize electric-powered vehicle access;
• Promote generous telecommute policies and universal high speed internet access;
• Adopt a 2030 goal of 100% net-zero carbon emissions from city-controlled generation;
• Mitigate and manage the long-term adverse health, economic, and other effects of pollution and climate change.

WPNA urges the Texas Legislature to pass legislation providing for:

• Study of additional controls on oil and gas facilities to reduce methane and other emissions, such as those in HB 225;
• Reduction of methane flaring and venting sufficient to protect the health of all Texans; 
• Enactment of emission reduction steps such as those suggested in model legislation available from the Lone Star chapter of the Sierra Club.

WPNA applauds Congress for including numerous provisions in the 2018 Farm Bill that have positive effects regarding climate change, but seeks significant action from Congress, including: 

• Prompt funding of studies to determine the most cost-efficient methods for the United States to achieve an electrical generation system by 2030 that is carbon neutral;
• Decisive legislation to ensure that by 2030, the United States shall achieve carbon neutral electricity generation for the nation as a whole;
• Ensure the building of or upgrading to energy-efficient, distributed, and ‘smart’ power grids;
• Eliminate greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution from the transportation sector as much as is technologically feasible, including through investment in zero-emission vehicle infrastructure and manufacturing; clean, affordable, and accessible public transportation; and high-speed rail;
• Ensure the removal of greenhouse gas emissions from manufacturing and industry as much as is technologically feasible;
• Impose a fee on the producers and the importers of fossil fuels, where fossil fuels include crude oil, natural gas, coal and their derivatives; and, annually or more often, distribute the fees received to US citizens on a per capita basis.
• Ensure that greenhouse gases from CAFOs be measured and reduced;
• Ensure that the US government works collaboratively with farmers and ranchers to eliminate pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector as much as is technologically feasible;
• Increase support for programs to make methane reduction by livestock operators as cost efficient as possible, for example by supporting research on this topic.

Furthermore, WPNA acknowledges that the effects of climate change will have a disproportionate impact on already vulnerable communities and individuals experiencing poverty and will further exacerbate income equalities.  

WPNA accepts the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as scientific consensus on the topic of climate change.  When discussing this resolution with legislators and the public, if representatives of WPNA wish to state other opinions, they will identify these opinions as personal.  

WPNA will, until further notice, take the following neighborhood-level actions to mitigate global warming:

1. Urge residents of Windsor Park to take individual actions to reduce global warming; 

2. Promote climate change mitigation efforts by highlighting climate actions of neighbors and local business, starting with a series of “Climate Corner” articles in the neighborhood newsletter, Window on Windsor;

3. Invite all neighborhood stakeholders to develop community initiatives to reduce global warming.