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Screenshot of Tuesday’s meeting courtesy City of Eureka.
The Eureka City Council Tuesday night voted 4-1 to adopt a resolution in support of the Paris Agreement, becoming the latest in a string of cities, states and companies pledging to meet the accord’s greenhouse gas emissions goals despite President Donald Trump’s decision back out of the historic deal.
This is at least the second time since Trump’s election that the council passed a resolution rebuking his policies. On Jan. 17, three days before Trump was sworn in, the council passed a human rights resolution, again by a 4-1 margin, with Councilmember Marian Brady dissenting on the grounds that it was “distasteful,” “negative” and “designed to make people fearful.”
She was again the lone dissenting vote on Tuesday, though she offered no comments or opinions on the item during the meeting, nor has she responded to an Outpost email seeking comment.
The resolution*, which can be found here, says among other things that “the City of Eureka recognizes global climate change is occurring, humans are contributing to it and reductions in greenhouse gases are necessary to avert the negative consequences of a changing climate.”
It also expresses a commitment to using renewable energy and fuel-efficient fleet vehicles and reducing greenhouse gases through the waste water treatment plant.
Councilmember Austin Allison said Eureka is facing serious challenges from the prospect of sea-level rise and noted that in the city’s ongoing general plan update process, staff is working to reduce the municipal carbon footprint by improving fleet vehicles and making buildings more energy efficient.
Only two members of the public spoke on the item. Both were from a local chapter of 350.org, a nonprofit that opposes new coal, oil and gas projects. They voiced support for the resolution.
Signed on Dec. 12, 2015, the Paris Climate Agreement is a 196-nation pact to use more renewable energy, cut down on greenhouse gases and deal with the unavoidable impacts of climate change.
Since Trump’s decision to drop the U.S. out of the deal, mayors, governors, city councils, university presidents and businesses all across the country have joined together to negotiate with the United Nations in hopes of becoming party to the deal.
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*We noted that the resolution technically supports “the Paris climate.” We assume that’s a typo, though we hear the City of Lights is quite nice this time of year.