Agenda 09-03-19 Item 8-a - Minutes

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14 1 Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions between 26 and 28 percent by 2025 from 2005 2 levels." 3 4 Commissioner Marcoplos said Commissioner Price requested that this resolution be 5 sent to all counties across the state, to encourage the adoption of this resolution. He said 6 keeping this commitment will require resources. 7 Commissioner Marcoplos said on September 5t" the Board of Commissioners adopted 8 the following: 9 SECTION 1. Orange County, the State of North Carolina, and the United States shall 10 transition from a fossil fuel-based economy to a 100% clean renewable energy for all energy 11 sectors-based economy, by January 1, 2050 or sooner to avoid climate catastrophe, to promote 12 job creation and economic growth, and to protect the Earth for current and future generations 13 from climate catastrophe. 14 15 Commissioner Marcoplos said his proposed amendment is a '/4-cent tax to fund climate 16 change investment projects and reduce energy, etc. 17 Commissioner Marcoplos said projects have been identified in the past, and he has 18 been working with the Sustainability Coordinator, which could allow the County to move as 19 quickly as a matter of weeks to initiate a weatherization project. 20 Commissioner Marcoplos said there is a social justice component to this proposal, such 21 as the weatherization project, as those most affected by climate change are those of low 22 income and means. 23 He said the weatherization project and a Solar Array would be a good place to start in 24 the first 6 months, while researching other ideas for the next round of investment projects. He 25 said both of these projects are familiar to residents, and would have an impact on energy 26 usage. 27 Commissioner Marcoplos said another part of this issue is that Orange County can be a 28 leader, and other governments in the area are watching to see if a modest tax increase can 29 move progress forward. He said Orange County could inspire other local governments, as well 30 as the private sector, and share information from its own projects to help jump-start other 31 efforts. 32 Commissioner Marcoplos said there is a lot of despair around climate change, especially 33 with the younger generation, who wants to be involved in moving this forward. He said the 34 County should brand itself as an alternative energy provider and leader, and it will attract 35 businesses with this topic at their core. 36 Commissioner Marcoplos said he feels deeply that the County must move on this now, 37 and he said quoted Bill McKibben: "If there's one thing I could get across to people about global 38 warming, it would be winning slowly is just another way of losing." He said the County has a 39 responsibility to the future, and this is a small and progressive tax. 40 Commissioner McKee said he does not dispute the climate change crisis, and has been 41 farming all of this life, living and dying by the weather. He said what is critical to him in this 42 proposal is that the County is already doing many of these things: solar, weatherization, 43 geothermal, etc. He said the County is taking action through the CIP, and the Board brings 44 projects forward one at a time. He said the Board is not going to backtrack on this. 45 Commissioner McKee said his main objection to this was that this proposal was not on 46 the website, and he thought all of the proposed amendments were posted. He said, as a result, 47 not enough people have had a chance to weigh in on this proposal. He said the BOCC has 48 received many emails on this, and the public should have been able to weigh in, as this topic 49 has been one of the more vocal issues in recent years. He said he fully supports green energy, 50 weatherization, and many other projects, but this amendment dedicates a revenue source that 51 eliminates the revenue source being used for other projects that the County may need to fund.