On Council July 8 agenda there is a very important report:  a draft plan for how the Township will reduce the green house gas emissions (GHG) generated by our facilities & fleet and reduce our consumption of energy (natural gas, electricity).  The report is important.  1st, the severity of climate change is human influenced by GHG emissions. 2nd, we know what needs to be done but we need to agree that it is important and we need to follow through with the necessary investments.    We have not been building a “climate change war chest” to fund this although as reviewed in the report we have done some good projects already.  How much we want to do will be a critical input to the upcoming 2020 budget work.  The report proposes 2 targets:  I believe we need to aim very high, specifically a 45% reduction in GHG and 35% reduction in consumption.  No question this is bold but we need to be .

To provide perspective on why I think “boldness” is required here is an excerpt from our Staff’s report. Climate Change is making headlines around the world on a daily basis, from extreme heat to extreme weather, wildfires, floods and sea ice melting among a flurry of other effects. Climate Change is Canada’s and the world’s most pressing and defining challenge of the 21st century. How we deal with this challenge will shape our home and the way we live, work and play here in King and Canada. In a recent Environment & Climate Change Canada report, scientists have stated that Canada has been, and will continue to warm at two times the global average. The primary cause of this unprecedented global warming is the human influenced releaseof GHG emissions into our atmosphere. Based on current models and a recent report from the 
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change the world as a whole has 12 years (as of this report) to curb our emissions output to prevent a 1.5 degree celsius net increase globally before setting in action an irreversible chain of events that will change our planet and the lives of its inhabitants (sea level rise, extreme weather event becoming normal, drought flooding, water & food insecurity.

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I look forward to what your thoughts are on is.