Minutes 01-22-2019 Regular Meeting

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12 Commissioner Marcoplos echoed Commissioner Green's comments about the cost incurred if no action is taken. He said this resolution is publicly asking David Price for support on the behalf of the Orange County residents. Commissioner McKee said he would not argue with a resolution that voices concerns about climate change, but that is not what this resolution says. He said he would not have concerns over the Green New Deal if Representative Ocasio-Cortez would come forward with projected costs, and what the real changes would be. He said there are things in the resolution that he completely agrees with regarding the environmental changes, and especially the request to implement a voter marked paper ballot for all voting; and restoring the vote to ex-offenders who have paid their debt to society. Commissioner McKee said this is a chicken little/the sky is falling resolution, and is fear mongering. He said there is a cost to doing nothing, but he feels most Americans support addressing environmental concerns. He said things like fair taxation that are distributed in proportion to ability to pay seems like a confiscation of wages. Commissioner Dorosin asked if that point is in the resolution. Commissioner McKee said it is in the abstract, which is an attachment to the resolution. He said the abstract also promotes the nationalization of banks, nationalization of stockholders, etc. He said these changes would affect 401 ks, bankers, reduce military funding, etc. Commissioner Dorosin said the concerns raised by Commissioner McKee are not in the resolution, and it is his understanding that the attachment will not be part of the resolution. He said the resolution supports the forming of a committee that will see the Green New Deal formed. He said he does not think a vote in favor of the resolution is a vote endorsing the attachment. He said he is happy to endorse the resolution and start the debate about how to address environmental concerns. Commissioner Dorosin echoed Commissioner Marcoplos' comments about a public discussion versus private conversation. Commissioner Marcoplos said he did not insert the Green Party's take on the Green New Deal into the abstract, but rather it was a good faith effort by staff to provide some background information about what one organization (of many) might bring to such a select committee. He said he based the resolution on other resolutions, and the other stuff is irrelevant. Commissioner McKee referred to the resolution and the first whereas: "WHEREAS, on October 8, 2018, the United Nations released a special report, criticized by many leading climate the scientists as overly conservative, which projected that limiting warming to the unsafe 1.5°C target this century will require an unprecedented transformation of every sector of the global economy over the next 12 years". He said in order to achieve this a global government will have to be instituted. Commissioner McKee referred to the 4t" whereas: "to rapidly and safely drawdown or remove all the excess carbon from the atmosphere, to end the 6th mass extinction of species," and said there is no scientific basis for this claim. Commissioner McKee said he is aware that the attachment is not part of the resolution, but given the excesses of the attachment, an affirmative vote for the resolution would be an endorsement of the Green New Deal. He said he does not mind endorsing things that are reasonable and attainable, but ideas such as nationalizing the US economy and a 12 -year time frame for implementation are unreasonable. Commissioner McKee said if the Board wants a resolution, it should form a committee (as it did with gun safety), bringing all sides of the debate together, to create a doable and reasonable proposal. Commissioner Price asked if the attachment from the Green Party is the definitive green new deal, or is it one entity's suggestions for the discussion.