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was to put together a list of internal strategies for climate action that were fully within our <br /> control. As they met initially, they also saw lots of needs to advocate for external policies at <br /> state of regional level. SO the committee then began by brainstorming a huge list of ideas <br /> and then boiled the list down by removing actions that were too narrow or too ambitious to <br /> create a more concise list of recommended policies. <br /> Given the pandemic,they also identified a potential opportunity to ask the state <br /> government to allow community resilience efforts in pandemic response.The budget <br /> picture is constricting all spending statewide. <br /> On the recommended list they shared, the color coding is there to help identify the lower <br /> cost items that might still go forward and then set aside items that will likely require <br /> partnerships.Another color shows items that depend on political will <br /> The spreadsheet is not complete, and they are open to questions and suggestions, as this <br /> committee works for the larger group.They need feedback before they go much farther. <br /> Monast added that Hansley-Mace and Trueblood did the lion's share of the work to get us <br /> to this point. And highlighted the importance of planning given budget constraints. How <br /> might COVID relief funding align with costs savings as well as energy savings? <br /> Trueblood added that they see their work as being related to the CARD, and the Policy <br /> Committee's role is to think about what is not being done.They would like to be able to <br /> share this list broadly to show all of the things that can be done. <br /> Slade added that the categorization of the low-cost items is not meant for everyone to just <br /> do the low hanging fruit and that over time the higher-cost items would need to be done as <br /> well. <br /> Marcoplos asked if we could add some descriptive notes beside costs to help with <br /> prioritization, and Trueblood agreed saying that time was a limiting factor but more <br /> description and cost details are intended to be added. <br /> Kauffman said that the list is great and very thorough. As we deal with pandemic, how do <br /> we prioritize these items? How to we recover in a greener and smarter way. Does the Policy <br /> committee have ideas on where to start on this? <br /> Trueblood said that prioritizing is the next step in our work.Their committee is interested in <br /> hearing from other Council members on this. We need to keep in mind that each local <br /> government will make their own decisions. <br /> Hansley-Mace added that there were 8 criteria used to boil down the larger policy list to <br /> create the recommendations. One example was if the item already on the CARD.This <br /> prioritization was done pre-COVID, so a second look is advisable. <br /> Tiger then asked would the impact of ARRA-funded projects that worked in communities <br /> help to inform current efforts. What were the shovel-ready projects that really moved the <br /> needle? <br /> Trueblood pointed out that there are many groups in NC working on this type of database. <br /> EDF Cities, and League of Municipalities are two examples.The ARRA funds are a great <br />