In his February 3 letter to the Nelson Star (“Careful to avoid a greenwash”), Tom Prior raised some valid concerns regarding several specific areas where greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions could be reduced by the City of Nelson and in the RDCK. I think all would agree that we have a long way to go before the city and the RDCK achieve deep reductions in GHG emissions and adequately address all of the major sources, but I stand by the statement I made in the Selkirk College flyer that “our local governments are making significant strides in addressing the issue of climate change.”
Given that only four years ago climate change wasn’t even on the radar of local government, and that both the city and the RDCK have now adopted ambitious GHG reduction targets and have initiated planning processes to develop serious GHG reduction strategies, I think it is fair to say that progress has been made.
The RDCK has developed a Corporate GHG Emissions Reduction Plan and has committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2012 through emission reductions and purchasing offsets. The city has recently completed its Path to 2040 sustainability strategy and is incorporating the recommendation from the Energy and Climate Change working group (and other working groups) into its Community Climate Action and Energy Plan. Without these critical first steps which acknowledge the importance of the issue and establish serious planning frameworks, significant progress on emissions reduction would not be possible. Based on my experience with the city’s planning process, I have no reason to believe that it is an attempt to “greenwash” anyone.
My feeling is that both the city and the RDCK are sincere in their commitments to addressing the problem of climate change and that they understand the importance of taking a leadership role in order to engage the wider community in the challenge of substantial emission reductions.
Additional information about these initiatives can be found on the city’s and RDCK’s respective websites. In addition, the second “Our Climate, Our Community Stakeholder Workshop” is scheduled for Thursday at the Hume Hotel. This is an opportunity for city and area stakeholders, businesses and residents to scrutinize the plans the city is putting together to reduce emissions and to become involved in this important ongoing process by providing feedback.
I encourage Tom, and all residents who wish to learn more about what the city is doing about climate change, to contact Dallas Johnson at djohnson@nelson.ca to register for the meeting – all constructive criticism will be welcome and all ideas will be on the table.
Mel Reasoner
Nelson