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10 <br /> 1 of jobs in this arena is dwarfed by jobs in energy efficiency, solar, and other alternative <br /> 2 energies. <br /> 3 Commissioner Price thanked the public speakers, David Stancil, DEAPR Director and <br /> 4 Commission for the Environment for taking the time to craft this resolution, and this is just the <br /> 5 beginning of this conversation. <br /> 6 Commissioner McKee said he is not questioning the benefit of this resolution and <br /> 7 movement, but his main concern is that millions of jobs will go away before the transition into <br /> 8 clean energy is complete. <br /> 9 Commissioner Marcoplos said County staff is focused on opportunities for clean energy, <br /> 10 and are on the right track. He said the BOCC supported the light rail, which will mitigate climate <br /> 11 change, as does the rural buffer. <br /> 12 Commissioner Marcoplos said it is very important to move towards municipality owned <br /> 13 utilities, and get out from under State private utilities. <br /> 14 <br /> 15 RESOLUTION OF THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS IN SUPPORT OF <br /> 16 A LOCAL, STATE, AND NATIONAL GOAL OF 100% CLEAN ENERGY BY 2050 <br /> 17 AND THE CREATION OF GREEN JOBS <br /> 18 <br /> 19 Whereas, climate change has increased the global average surface temperature by <br /> 20 1.00 degrees Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) since 1880; and <br /> 21 <br /> 22 Whereas, climate change is expected to increasingly impact North Carolina's <br /> 23 temperatures, precipitation and sea level with harmful consequences in coming years; and <br /> 24 <br /> 25 Whereas, climate change and global average temperature increases are primarily due <br /> 26 to human-caused fossil fuels emissions, including coal, oil and natural gas, according to the <br /> 27 United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, National Academy of Sciences, <br /> 28 American Meteorological Society, United States Environmental Protection Agency, United <br /> 29 States Department of Defense, and numerous other leading scientific, academic and <br /> 30 governmental authorities both in the United States and internationally; and <br /> 31 <br /> 32 Whereas, a final agreement of the United Nations Conference of Parties (COP21), <br /> 33 which included the United States and a total of 195 nations, was reached in Paris, France on <br /> 34 December 12, 2015, that states the aim is to "holding the increase in the global average <br /> 35 temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels and pursuing efforts to <br /> 36 limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels" and entered <br /> 37 into force on November 4, 2016; and <br /> 38 <br /> 39 Whereas, scientists have concluded the concentration of carbon dioxide, the leading <br /> 40 greenhouse gas, in the Earth's atmosphere is currently and consistently over 400 parts per <br /> 41 million (ppm) and will likely stay above this level for the indefinite future for the first time in <br /> 42 millions of years; and <br /> 43 <br /> 44 Whereas, sixteen of the seventeen hottest years on record have occurred in the twenty- <br /> 45 first century and 2016 is the hottest year on record; and <br /> 46 <br /> 47 Whereas, an increase in the global average temperature is having and will continue to <br /> 48 increasingly have major adverse impacts, if not stopped by eliminating the use of fossil fuels, on <br /> 49 both the natural and human-made environments due to longer, more intense heat waves, <br />