The City of Edmonds is sponsoring a Climate Goals open house Thursday, Jan. 17, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., in the Brackett Room, third floor of Edmonds City Hall, 121 5th Ave. N.
The open house will have displays on greenhouse gases and other information on view for the public. At 7 p.m., city representatives will give a presentation about key climate findings and possible next steps.
The Edmonds City Council at its Jan. 2 meeting received a summary of a report completed to address possible community changes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions — all with the goal of minimizing global warming. You can see the entire report here.
The Jan. 17 meeting is a follow-up to that report.
According to the city’s meeting announcement:
The city began a Climate Goals project last year, based on a resolution adopted by the Edmonds City Council. The project includes developing a greenhouse gas inventory for Edmonds, identifying targets for reducing greenhouse gases, and proposing ways to meet the targets. The biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions is the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, gasoline and natural gas.
Studies have shown that greenhouse gas emissions are a key factor in climate warming. Even if climate change is held to only a 2-degree C. maximum increase by 2100, that still means huge impacts, here and globally. For example, according to a recent study, ocean acidity would increase by 24 percent. Yet, even meeting the 2-degree goal will be difficult if trends don’t change dramatically.
The Climate Goals project recognizes that Edmonds alone cannot change the trends but cities together can make a difference.
A consultant team is helping with the project — aided by elected officials, city staff, and the citizen-based Climate Protection Committee. More detailed project information will soon be posted on the City’s website.
This is not the city’s first work on climate change issues. In 2010, the City adopted a Climate Action Plan. Other approaches included the New Energy Cities Action Plan in 2011, and various activities, such as the “Taming Bigfoot” community exercise last year.
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