Kansas City Climate Equity Emergency Reconsidered

Our blog community was FIRST to give consideration to Kansas City's climate emergency resolution.

Now there's a demand to put words into action and make the effort even more "equitable" in order to satisfy activists . . .

"Resolutions don’t generate new laws, and passing an ordinance doesn’t guarantee funding to accomplish its goals. The environmental office had hoped to couple the climate emergency resolution with the climate protection and resiliency plan to be reviewed in January. But when Councilwoman Melissa Robinson expressed a desire to pass the resolution earlier, the office worked with her to draft it. While the resolution is good for bringing short-term attention to climate change, Savastino said, some of the sections have created confusion.

"While heartened by the inclusion of marginalized communities in the discussion, the city could have gone further and put more resources into helping the climate justice workers engage people . . . One simple way to increase equity? Planting trees. In 2018, the city passed the Urban Forest Master Plan, which called for more plantings and better care of existing trees. Trees, the plan explained, offer carbon sequestration, air pollution control and reduced heat stress.

"While the City Council passed a resolution endorsing the forest master plan, it hasn’t freed up the funding needed to make a big difference . . ."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news link . . .

Kansas City declared a climate emergency. Now what?

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