Agenda - 06-03-2008-5b5e - Laserfiche WebLink

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3) Costs. How will construction of this project be financed? Who will pay for the infrastructure improvements, including upgrades to the local roads, to the I-40/85 interchange, sewer & water provision? A key question for the people of Orange County is whether incentives will be given, especially in light of recent history in North Carolina. In Lenoir County last winter incentives in the form of property & RE tax abatements estimated to total around $185 million over. 30 years were granted by the county commissioners to Google, Inc. Subsequently the Lenoir commissioners raised taxes on everyone else by 22.2%. Orange County residents need to know what our costs are going to be in order to fully assess this project. Conclusion Given the gravity of what former U.S. vice-president Al Gore calls the "Global Climate Emergency," and given that the County's Planning Ordinances do not now effectively address the urgent need to reduce COz emissions, approval of the Buckhorn Village application at this time is not in the County's interest. The accumulation of knowledge about CQz and Climate Change, in conjunction with the significant increase in COz that Buckhorn Village would produce, indicates that this project would pose a threat to the health, safety and welfare of the people of Orange County (and beyond). Moreover, the applicants, who are long-time residents of the County and have done good works here, must surely realize, as well as any citizen who follows the news about Climate Change, that what they are asking us to accept is a continuation of the worst kind of "business as usual." They would do themselves great credit and help to ensure a sustainable future by withdrawing this application. Narrative I. Carbon Emissions dpi Accelerating Climate Change Outcomes. My comments assume that the connection between emissions and global warming is commonly accepted. What I will provide here are citations from newspaper & magazine articles that have appeared over the past 4 years in order to convey both the catastrophic events that may ensue if we do not make immediate and drastic reductions in COz emissions, and also the accelerating progress we are akeady seeing in the direction of the direst Climate Change outcomes. a) Species Loss. The most ominous outcome that has been reported is unthinkable for the human species and most other species as well. The geologic record shows at least two instances of widespread species die-offs resulting from what scientists refer to as "thermal maximums," global temperature increases which were triggered by the release of methane from "clathrates," ice-like structures in arctic tundra and the bottom of the polar seas. These events were utterly catastrophic for'life on earth. Baltimore Sun reporter John Atcheson wrote ("Ticking time bomb," 12/15/2004)' °A temperature increase of merely a few degrees would cause these [methane] gases to volatilize. and "burp" into the atmosphere, which would further raise temperatures, which would release yet