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<br /> <br />benefits of action. Halkiotis made the point that communicating effectively about current <br />and future climate actions is also critical. <br /> <br />Gu and Rubinoff then made the point that the decisions that the Climate Council makes <br />should be driven by technical information and data. Marcoplos said that the groups around <br />the table all had valuable data and experience to lend to the project selection process and <br />referred to the list of projects in the initial report of the Ad Hoc committee as an example of <br />that experience. Slade agreed that the process of identifying joint actions of the Climate <br />Council should be well-informed and added that they should also reflect the most current <br />climate science and climate justice guidance. McCullough and Tiger added that if the <br />Council decides to take time to create a data-driven action plan, then they would be in favor <br />of moving forward with initial actions based on the best available information in the <br />meantime given the urgency of the issue. Richardson mentioned that this strategy was in <br />line with the current climate action plan update process going on in Chapel Hill. They plan to <br />have their action-centered plan update completed by June of next year, but are continuing <br />to act in the meantime. Gu clarified that a full plan might not be necessary, but an objective <br />analysis of the joint projects the Council considers would help to determine which would <br />have the highest impact. Bouma stated that he and a volunteer are nearing completion of a <br />county-wide greenhouse gas inventory for the 2017 calendar year, and that this may be a <br />helpful resource to guide decision making once it is complete. <br /> <br />Council members then offered additional thoughts on the best approach. Slade noted that <br />there may be new federal climate action funding programs in 2020, and the council could <br />help position Orange County to take advantage of those resources. Schnitzer stated that it <br />may be good for council members to share not just success stories, but areas where they’ve <br />tried something and have run into issues. He also said that there are a lot of things that <br />Orange County residents have the power to do right now, and the Council could help <br />identify and communicate those. Van Mater then reinforced the previous idea about the <br />importance of positive messaging, saying that from a High School student’s perspective <br />climate action messaging that is hopeful, clear, and simple is the best-received. He offered <br />the “Skip the Straw” campaign as a good example and said that even though it only <br />addressed a small part of the larger issue of plastic waste in the ocean, it provided a good <br />starting point to engage people. Weaver and McCullough reinforced this comment and <br />mentioned that the Council may want to request the assistance of social marketing experts. <br />Rubinoff then tied in the idea of social marketing into the previous discussion about the <br />need for a data-driven process, saying that data does not have to slow down the process <br />and can be motivating in itself, similar to popular fitness trackers. This type of data could be <br />tied into positive messaging about how close we are to a goal, instead of the more negative <br />and intangible tracking of how much we have reduced against a previous baseline year. <br />Richardson expanded on the idea that local governments directly contribute only about 2- <br />3% of the total emissions of the County, so the Council might consider ways to impact larger <br />sources of emissions. He also said that choosing 2-3 major actions or messages to focus on <br />would be much more impactful than going with a long list. Marcoplos agreed that the <br />Council’s actions should extend past the direct contributions of government operations. Gu <br />reinforced the idea saying that setting policies that lower emissions are a good way to do <br />that, but that policy decisions in particular will need to come from a strong platform of data <br />analysis. Della Valle emphasized the benefits of having a clear role and goals for the Council. <br />Schnitzer offered his strong opinion that the schools are an excellent area on which the <br />Council could focus as there are lots of opportunities to make short-term emissions <br />reductions and long-term improvements to climate awareness among Orange County