MELANIE BACON: A Message from Commissioner Bacon (Sep. 9, 2022)

Island County Commissioner Melanie Bacon (D-Langley) sent the following newsletter on Fri., Sep. 9, 2022.

Thank you for reading my newsletter for the 36th week of 2022. This week I am going to focus on one particular action the Board took at our meeting on September 6^th: the passage of Resolution No. C-55-22: In the Matter of Climate Change and Steps to Ensure County Resiliency. You can watch this meeting at this link.

I believe that climate change is the existential crisis of our lifetime; and in my view, the action we took on Tuesday was one of the most important votes of my tenure, second only to the upcoming votes we will take on designing and implementing a climate action plan for our county.

We received an hour of public comment on this issue at Tuesday’s meeting. Everyone who spoke was in favor of the county adopting a few changes to the resolution on the table, recommendations made by the group United Student Leaders Whidbey Island. In the end, we added two of their recommendations to the resolution we adopted unanimously.

That was the most significant element of Tuesday’s vote: the Board’s unanimous commitment to taking action in response to climate change. If the generations that come after us are to enjoy a healthy and abundant life on Whidbey and Camano Islands, every one of us living here now will need to change some of our behavior. It can’t be just us tree-huggers talking big talk. It must be all of us, all along the political spectrum, making changes in how we do things. Rhetoric and politics won’t save us. All of us will need to take action.

We are all on this adventure together.

The next steps at the county will be to adopt a resolution identifying what our behavioral and structural goals are, and then adopt a Climate Action Plan addressing those goals. I am hopeful that we will see the first yet this year, with the Climate Action Plan adoption in 2023.

My sincere gratitude to my colleagues, to staff, and to all the citizens who got us this far. Now let’s work on identifying the goals.

Resolution No. C-55-22: In the Matter of Climate Change and Steps to Ensure County Resiliency  Adopted September 6, 2022

         WHEREAS, Island County desires to protect and enhance the quality of life for all those who live, work, learn and play in our community, as well as all future generations; and

          WHEREAS, consensus exists among the majority of the world’s leading climate scientists that we face a major global climate crisis caused by greenhouse gas emissions, with rising sea levels and melting ice sheets creating increasingly unpredictable and unhealthy living environments as we approach a dangerous threshold of global warming; and

          WHEREAS, climate action should be implemented in an equitable way, and accountable to historically marginalized communities; and

           WHEREAS, on October 8, 2018, the United Nations released a special report which projected that limiting warming to the unsafe 1.5°C target this century will require an unprecedented transformation of every sector of the global economy over the next 12 years; and

          WHEREAS, in November 2018, the Fourth National Climate Assessment by the US Global Change Research Program illustrated the threat that climate change poses to the American economy, our environment, and climate stability, and the need for immediate action to address the climate crisis at all levels of government; and

          WHEREAS, climate change has been widely recognized by government, business, academic, and other community leaders as a worldwide threat with the potential to harm our economy, safety, and public health; and

          WHEREAS, the climate crisis impact is seen through the recent Category 4 atmospheric river that hit Washington State. More severe “King” tides and strong wind pushed water ashore causing mass flooding throughout Washington. Atmospheric rivers are predicted to continue to hit Washington state as the climate crisis worsens with 38 avalanches affecting the state after record-breaking rain and snow levels; and

          WHEREAS, Island County’s geographic location makes it particularly vulnerable to the devastating impacts of climate change, including a projected 1-3 feet of rising sea levels along the shoreline by 2100, drought, flooding, and the associated adverse impacts to infrastructure, and the environment; and

          WHEREAS, in 2021 from June 27^thto 29^th, three out of the four hottest temperatures ever recorded in Washington occurred throughout the State. Climate Scientists and Meteorologists worry that as climate change continues, heat waves and other extreme weather events could become more frequent and even more severe; and

           WHEREAS, efforts to mitigate against further impacts of climate change will have benefits such as cleaner air and water, improved health, increased local employment; cost savings for households, businesses, and the county, and the creation of a stronger and more resilient community; and

          WHEREAS, states and local governments are making the effort to combat climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions; reducing petroleum use in cars and trucks; increasing electricity derived from renewable sources; and

          WHEREAS, Island County has taken several actions to address climate change, some of which include:

• Island County Public Health partnered to fund a 2020 membership in ICLEI, Local Governments for Sustainability, as well as with Northwest Clean Air Agency who funded the 2019 greenhouse gas emissions study, and
• Island County Planning and Community Development complete building code energy efficiency updates annually, are updating the Public Benefits Rating System code to consider forest protection, partnering, and preservation, and
• Island County Planning and Community Development completed a sea level rise strategy study in 2020 along with sea level rise monitoring plan recommendations for community planning, and
• Island County Planning and Community Development in partnership with Public Health applied for, and will apply again for, the State Dept. of Ecology Grant for sea level rise education and outreach to shoreline communities, and
• Island County Public Works replaced county lights and has started to convert all Road Shops and Solid Waste facilities to more efficient LEDs, and
• Island County Public Works is looking to continue to install more fuel-efficient roundabouts, and
• Island County Public Works maintains carbon-reducing green spaces, and acquires or partners in acquiring carbon-reducing green spaces, and
• Island County Facilities is working on developing potential future projects under the Energy Savings Performance Contracting program with the Washington State Department of Enterprise Services; and

          WHEREAS, behavioral and structural changes are important in achieving climate goals and creating communities that are safer and healthier; and

          WHEREAS, the current pace of climate actions may still fall short of reducing the projected harm to people and places and accelerated actions need to be taken to reduce our GHG emissions and implement solutions to prepare and protect our communities; NOW, THEREFORE,

          BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED, that the Board of County Commissioners of Island County, Washington:

1. Hereby declares addressing the threats caused by climate change a priority for Island County; and
2. Commits to ensuring the county’s actions remain in alignment with the most current scientific findings regarding climate change; and
3. Re-affirms its commitment to climate action and pledges to continue implementation of greenhouse gas emission reduction strategies; and
4. Commits to addressing the concerns of underrepresented and vulnerable communities during the climate planning process; and
5. Intends to plan for resiliency with policies and regulations that reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and
6. Will develop a Climate Action Plan and will follow the approved recommendations, and
7. Will make every attempt to involve the public, including our youth, in climate action planning and further recommendations.

Thanks,

Melanie

“…if you don’t worry about it now, it’s too late later on…We are passing down extremely grave problems for our children, when the time to solve the problems is now.”

–Carl Sagan, 1985