[LOVESalem] Salem Citizen Climate Protection Petition

[John Gear]

"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."

To the City Council of Salem:

All of us have children, grandchildren, or other loved ones who will suffer the consequences of uncontrolled pollution that is radically destabilizing the delicate heat balance that allowed human civilization to evolve and thrive across planet Earth. Humans need a stable, predictable climate, where agriculture can flourish and where catastrophic “100 year” severity floods, fires, famines, and droughts do not happen again and again, year after year, with increasing frequency and severity.

Salem is already experiencing negative consequences of climate destabilization. We cannot afford – in terms of economic health, human health, or environmental health – to continue business as usual.

Therefore, we call upon the City Council of Salem, the Capital City, to join with Albany, Ashland, Beaverton, Bend, Corvallis, Eugene, Forest Grove, Gladstone, Gresham, Hillsboro, Lake Oswego, Lincoln City, Milwaukie, Oregon City, Portland, and Vernonia in civic recognition of the severity of the challenge we face and the need for sustained local commitment to practices to address the climate crisis and that will reduce the harm to future generations.

Specifically, we call upon the City Council of Salem to

1.    ADOPT THE 350 ppm GOAL:  Adopt a science-based target for emissions reductions actions needed to reduce the concentration of CO2 and other heat-trapping gases 350 ppm CO2 equivalent.

2.    CHARGE FOR EMISSIONS & REBATE THE CHARGES 100%:  Implement programs to reduce private-sector emissions using charges for use of fossil-fueled energy and emissions of heat-trapping pollution, with 100% of the fees collected returned to the people of Salem through a monthly per capita rebate, thereby encouraging creative, market-based solutions to greenhouse gas emissions and making polluters pay, rather than making us all pay for polluters.  

3.    SLASH PUBLIC SECTOR EMISSIONS: Act now to reduce current emissions and cut future emissions through comprehensive policies such as anti-sprawl land-use policies, urban forest restoration projects, mass transit, shifts from fossil-fueled power sources to non-polluting power sources, and opposing any export or trans-shipment of coal and oil through Oregon.

Date	Printed Name	Signature	Age (if < 18)	Ward or Neighborhood

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Posted By Unknown to LOVESalem at 9/05/2014 05:56:00 PM

[John Gear]

Laurie, 

I wanted to refer to the mayors climate protection pledge but when I investigated further to actually write the petition text for Salem City Council, found that it is so obsolete (overtaken by events) that it's not something we can actually ask Salem to join honestly.

It would be like asking someone to buy a ticket on the Titanic after hearing the iceberg hit, or calling for Salem to join an action to prevent world population from hitting 7 Billion -- oops, too late.

It's obsolete because the Mayors pledge asks for cities to commit to aiming for Kyoto protocols levels, which are far higher than we could tolerate. 

Once I realized how obsolete the levels called for by the Mayors I realized it was time to depart from that proposal, and 350 is the goal that makes sense according to science.

So far as I know, the 350 target isn't in the mayors climate pledge either; if I'm wrong on that, please let me know.

At that point that I saw how obsolete the Mayor's pledge was, I felt relieved of any obligation to stick with the mayor's climate pledge, because trying to say that we support the mayors climate pledge, except for this part, this part and this part, makes the whole thing overly complicated to explain, making it impossible to sell.

That's why I didn't refer to the mayors climate pledge by name, instead simply listing the cities get it taken the pledge and saying that they are the ones that have given civic recognition to the problem.

Cap and trade system is far less efficient then a carbon tax (fee and rebate system), and the citizens climate lobby is 100% behind the hundred percent rebate. 

If you or the collective don't want to adopt or carry my draft petition then that's fine -- 

Feel free to come up with your own petition and carry that one. It's the best I could come up with, not necessarily the best that could exist.

"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."

On Sep 5, 2014, at 19:03, Laurie Dougherty <lauried...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks John, but there seems to be a little bait and switch going on.  I thought this was going to be about the US Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement - which is what all those other cities signed and it doesn't talk about fee and rebate. It talks about land use, energy efficiency, green building, etc.  It actually talks about advocating for a market based allowance trading system.

I'm all for putting a price on carbon but there's more than one way to do it.  And I would not insist on 100% rebate.  The Mayors agreement actually talks about advocating for a market based allowance trading system. Actually putting a price on carbon would be hard to do at the municipal level.  http://www.usmayors.org/climateprotection/documents/mcpAgreement.pdf

Has the UUCS social justice committee agreed to calling for a city-based fee with 100% rebate? Can we explicitly reference the Mayors climate Protection Agreement and can we change Section 2 to read:
2. MAKE POLLUTERS PAY. Encourage creative, market-based solutions to greenhouse gas emissions thereby making polluters pay, rather than making us all pay for polluters.  

Let me know.
Laurie