Walters Doesn't Want To Spend "Millions"
The Kodiak City Council debated the merits of combating climate change at an Earth Day work session last night (Tuesday).
Theresa
Peterson of the Alaska Marine Conservation Council gave a presentation
on the Community Baseline Emissions Inventory, a program designed to
gauge how big a community’s carbon footprint is. Once that is
determined the community can look for ways to cut down on emissions and
energy use.
It
was developed by the International Council for Local Environmental
Initiatives, or ICLEI (ick-ly), a group that advocates for local
governments to find climate change solutions. Peterson said it involves
hiring an intern for ten weeks to complete the study. She added that
several groups in the community had already expressed support for the
project, including some that wanted to offer financial assistance.
(City Climate 1 :33s “…some money towards it.”)
The
Kodiak Island Borough Assembly will take up the topic at its work
session on Thursday, and Peterson suggested that the two bodies could
work together on the project.
(City Climate 2 :29s “…your very busy staff.”)
But
Councilman Tom Walters had some concerns. He worried that once the
emissions study was done, the city would be told that the only way to
reduce energy use, would be to spend a lot of money.
(City Climate 3 :35s “…and millions of dollars.”)
Councilman
Jack Maker countered that the study was just the first step, and the
only way money would be spent after that was if the city council agreed
to it.
(City Climate 4 :33s “…make it expensive.”)
Walters
said that’s all he needed to hear, and that if the project proceeded he
wouldn’t have a problem with that. Maker will actually be attending an
ICLEI conference next month in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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