Davis in 250 Words (Part 3)

Each week the Davis Vanguard asks candidates a question. Here's the first question, my answer, and a link to the article. More to come!

Discuss your views of the city’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan - do you support it?  Does it go far enough?  What concerns do you have?

I support creating concrete plans to move toward a carbon neutral future quickly. However, there are clearly areas where the CAAP can be a better policy and process. 

I plan to create an independent climate commission to hold the city accountable and facilitate an updated CAAP beginning immediately. We have no time to waste in improving this plan with community input and buy-in. This update needs to engage activists and community members of all ages, income-levels, etc. and increase its focus on transportation and resilience. I also plan to immediately begin the proliferation of resilience centers that can disconnect from the grid in times of emergency at grocery stores, churches, and schools for those in our community as well as climate refugees.

The city’s most important job is to work with the community, which is why it is important to address the whole house electrification mandate. This is not a well thought through policy and the Natural Resources Commission, professional realtors, and the public have identified this. The issues with this policy are threefold. It is inequitable, will decrease housing stock turnover, and will cost the city money. Instead, I suggest our community consider annual fee schedules for gas appliances which provide property owners with incentives to switch to electric at time of replacement but still allow them the option to continue with gas. This would raise funds that can be used to assist people with this transition, cover the costs of enforcement, and help us increase energy resilience.

Vanguard Article