Climate Council Meeting Summary - 7-15-21

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passion of the OCCC members and said this may be more effective coming from a non- profit. She offered that inter-governmental groups are often very effective at sharing information, identifying partnership opportunities, to amplify impact. Rubinoff pointed out that it may be useful to continue noting ideas like this even if they are not currently supported to show what more could be done if greater support were provided. Ryan agreed that generating ideas and suggesting them to other entities might be a good role for the Council, and clarified that she was pointing out that this group may not ever have the resources to support direct implementation itself. Bouma agreed and offered an example to help illustrate what this group might do in the Green Plus program. Supporting another entity’s certification program might be within reach of the Council. Kaufman clarified that this green certification example actually came out of Carrboro’s CAP and discussions with green developers. She agreed that the Council might best serve as an “idea engine” and avoid planning to implement projects directly. Richardson then summarized on behalf of the Policy Working Group. They chose not to meet this month as they felt their work had finished for now and was waiting on additional direction from the Council on future directions. He also mentioned that work was continuing to develop quick policy briefs. Bouma then asked how the Council should generate the ideas that are considered. Ward offered a couple of high-priority example actions including electrification of buildings and vehicles, and highlighted areas where the lower income residents might benefit first. Richardson pointed out that those two ideas are in Chapel Hill’s climate action plan already. Trueblood said that these projects are both in Hillsborough’s developing plan as well, and pointed out that it may be useful for members for the Council to help identify the best equipment to use. Rubinoff pointed out that EV charging and evaluation tools might be good areas where members could share resources and save money overall. IV. Guidance for Communications Committee Rubinoff and the interns who continue to support this Working Group provided an update and the Council discussed their current work and proposed future direction which they intend to align with the plans of the 4 local governments. They underscored the importance of representing the voices of underrepresented communities in guiding climate action planning. They also agreed with previous discussions that implementing an ambitious communication plan is beyond the scope of the Council.