The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly’s discussion about whether the city should take a stance on climate change will continue into a third meeting.<\/p>\n
Assembly member Maria Gladziszewski proposed at a June 26 Committee of the Whole meeting that Mayor Ken Koelsch join the Climate Mayors <\/a>network<\/a> that supports the goals of the Paris Climate <\/a>Agreement<\/a>. Presently, 364 American mayors have joined in response to President Donald Trump pulling the United States out of the Paris Agreement, which sets nonbinding goals for countries to reduce emissions.<\/p>\n Joining means that a city is setting emissions goals and actively pursuing them, and cities are also asked to have a representative who regularly communicates with other cities in the network. There’s nothing binding about joining the Climate Mayors network.<\/p>\n At the June 26 meeting, the Assembly voted for Koelsch to join the other mayors in their pact, but there was confusion at the meeting about what exactly the body was voting on, so Koelsch called for a motion of reconsideration at Monday’s meeting.<\/p>\n At Monday’s meeting, the Assembly agreed to re-vote on the topic. Gladziszewski then withdrew her original motion, choosing instead to introduce a new document for CBJ to issue.<\/p>\n This document, which she entitled, “A Resolution Affirming Juneau’s Commitment to Climate Action,” is meant to have the city state its support for its climate-related goals without getting tangled in an international issue.<\/p>\n “I believe our community has a broad agreement on these things,” Gladziszewski said, “and apparently the word Paris Accord sets people off. What it is is continuing to commit to climate action. I would just ask that this would be introduced for the next Assembly meeting.”<\/p>\n By an 8-1 vote — Koelsch being the only vote against — the Assembly voted to consider the document at its next meeting, Aug. 21. The document stipulates three actions for the city to take. The first is publicly reaffirming its commitment to the 2011 Juneau Climate Action and Implementation Plan, which sets a goal of reducing Juneau’s emissions by 25 percent by 2032.<\/p>\n Secondly, the document would state that Juneau is committed to exploring policies that promote the long-term reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Gladziszewski pointed out that the city has set goals and made statements in the past about its commitments to reducing emissions, but those goals sometimes fall by the wayside as other priorities pop up.<\/p>\n