F3 is excited to tell you that City Council will be considering and, we believe, approving the Flagstaff Carbon Neutrality Plan at their meeting this week, Tuesday, June 15. The Plan addresses our Climate Emergency and outlines our strategy to reach carbon neutrality by 2030.
The Plan establishes a vision for how Flagstaff will create a carbon-neutral future. Achieving this goal will require reducing greenhouse gas emissions through drastic shifts in how we heat and power our buildings, travel from place to place, and manage our waste. These shifts must occur at multiple levels within the community, as well as across the state, the country, and the world. This Plan includes nine target areas for reducing our community’s emissions, each with specific strategies to guide Flagstaff’s work. They include:
- Community Resilience
- Equitable Systems
- Decreased Dependence on Cars
- Electric Mobility
- Clean Electricity
- Building Fuel Switching
- Reduced Building Energy Use
- Sustainable Consumption and Waste Management
- Carbon Dioxide Removal
If you haven’t done so yet, please read the final Plan and let Council know your thoughts. To email a comment to the Mayor and Council, write to council@flagstaffaz.gov. Do this on or by June 14 if you can. This is a great way to show your support of the Plan and be involved in an important decision for our community.
Ideas for comments:
- Keep it positive! Speak about the importance of Flagstaff’s leadership (Tucson followed Flagstaff’s lead soon after declaring a climate emergency); and focus on the benefits to you, to our community, and to the world.
- Emphasize the importance of Council adopting the Plan now, on June 15, without substantive changes.
Where will the funding come from?
Funding for the implementation of Plan strategies will need to come from within the City budget, agency grants, and new revenue sources. Some actions in the Plan require capital investment in City infrastructure. Others will require increases in annual operating budgets. Some actions are potential candidates for state, federal, or foundation funding.
Funding options include:
- Increase existing City fees on certain activities, such as increasing the Environmental Management Fee.
- Propose a new sales tax that would have to be approved by voters, similar to how Cities pay for road projects, municipal buildings, and other large city investments.
- Issue bonds, a mechanism for the City to pay for large infrastructure projects.
- Apply for grants from the federal government and private organizations or foundations.
- Allocate City resources to climate-focused initiatives.
- Establish a local emissions reduction fund, to allow individual donations to fund emissions-reducing projects.
City staff are developing a financial impact and avoided cost plan and will return to City Council this fall.
Thank you for your engagement in our community,
Michele James
F3 Executive Director
www.friendsofflagstaff.org
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