 |
Katie Takes a StandOne Cotati youth helps her city council to take a stand on global climate change.
In May 2005, the Climate Protection Campaign convened a workshop to agree upon a greenhouse gas reduction target for Sonoma County, where 32 community members came to consensus that Sonoma County should reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 25% below 1990 levels by 2015, the boldest emission reduction target set by any community in the United States to date. The recommended target has now been adopted by all nine of Sonoma's city governments, and the Board of Supervisors will vote on the target on September 27th, 2005. 
Eight youth under 18 participated in the workshop, alongside city councilmembers, civic leaders, and business members. Below is the experience of Katie Arnold, the youth representative for Cotati. Cotati councilwoman Janet Orchard invited me to join her as the youth representative for my town in a countywide workshop to address climate change. I've been very interested in environmental change for a long time, and I was excited to be involved. The Target Setting Workshop lasted all day, and it was spent hammering out a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target that we would recommend to the county at large for adoption. We worked in small groups composed of different kinds of people - business members, youth, civic leaders, and elected officials - from different cities in Sonoma County. We were asked to decide upon a base year for measuring our greenhouse gas emissions, a target year for achieving our goal, and a percentage amount to reduce our emissions below the base year by the target year. It was easily decided that 1990 would be our base year because it's the same base year as that of the international Kyoto Protocol to reduce emissions, involving over 154 nations. The small groups then chose a target year, and the group agreed upon 2015. Our group thought 2015 was favorable because it allowed our community a ten-year window of time to meet our goal. Our next decision was what percent reduction this community could achieve. The group that I was in was one of the few that thought that 30% reduction below 1990 levels by 2015 was ideal. Most other groups wanted either a 20 or 25% reduction in that timeframe because it was easier to achieve and it aligns with the targets within the Kyoto Protocol. While the community workshop attendees consented on a 25% reduction in emissions below 1990 levels by 2015, I still held in my heart that 5% more would demonstrate leadership and help us to meet the scientific imperative. While it is slightly harder to achieve 30%, it's for our own benefit. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the leading scientific authority on the need for reducing emissions calls for a 60 to 80% reduction immediately to ease the environmental harm that is present to human health, climate cycles, and our planet's ecosystems. While we weren't reaching the scientific imperative with any of the goals presented at the workshop, 30% is the most positive because it is completely achievable with the innovations and technology currently available to reduce emissions. I then went to the Cotati City Council meeting in late August when the resolution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by our targeted times and percentages was on the agenda. I didn't plan to speak to the council, but at the advice of Ann Hancock, the director of the Climate Protection Campaign, I went before the podium, coming out in full support of the resolution. I then presented some reasons for not only passing the resolution but also to amend the resolution to a 30% reduction. To my surprise, councilwoman Pat Gilardi supported my recommendation, and the other councilmembers followed suit, affirming the resolution unanimously with the addition of a 30 percent target. As a young person, this was a really amazing experience for me. Although I've been involved in politics and activism, being taken seriously is harder to come by than would be expected. I imagine that this experience can be the same for adults. Being told that my ideas are worthwhile and that I'm being listened to was affirming for me, and I learned something wonderful from this experience. At the beginning of the workshop, I felt hesitant that the adult participants would not take me seriously. Given the opportunity to spend an entire day voicing my opinions on an equal playing field with city councilmembers and business leaders and helping to shape the future of our community for the benefit of the entire planet, I felt like my opinions, and also the opinions the other young people there, are more acknowledged than I or my peers often assume. |
|
|
Meet Agents Find a Home Client Reviews Saving Energy at Home Cool SchoolsAbout the Cool Agents Alliance Contact Us
|
||
Rob Bader
|