RES NO. 2019-14 SUPPORTING GREEN NEW DEALRESOLUTION NO. 2019-14
A RESOLUTION of the City of Bainbridge Island, Washington,
supporting Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Markey's resolution to recognize
the responsibility of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal
and to recognize that local environmental and social organizations such as
Climate Action Bainbridge and Indivisible Bainbridge urge its passage.
WHEREAS, an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, dated
October 2018, and the National Climate Assessment, dated November 2018, found that
climate change is causing extreme weather events that threaten lives and infrastructure,
climate change at or above two degrees Celsius will cause trillions of dollars in economic
losses from wildfire, severe storm and sea level rise, and damage to national
infrastructure, and that climate change will lead to mass migrations and threaten our
national security; and
WHEREAS, human activity in the United States has been a leading cause of
climate change, and the United States has the ability and obligation to lead in reversing
the cataclysmic impacts of climate change; and
WHEREAS, presently the environmental, health, and social costs of carbon
emissions are not included in prices for fossil fuels, but rather these externalized costs are
borne directly and indirectly by all Americans and global citizens, and in passing
Resolution 2017-04, the Council affirmed its support for the U.S. Congress to craft
legislation to price carbon since a rising price on carbon will be an important element of
addressing climate change; and
WHEREAS, people in the United States, especially women and people of color,
are experiencing shorter lives because of lifetime exposure to polluted water, air, and
soil; and
WHEREAS, stagnating wages and severe income inequality cannot be overcome
because of increasingly expensive education, housing, and transportation; and
WHEREAS, the New Deal policies during the Great Depression contributed to
the emergence of a strong middle class after the massive investment of taxpayer dollars
and federal borrowing that were needed to mobilize our country's economy.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAINBRIDGE
ISLAND DOES RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
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Section 1. That the Federal Government should take immediate action to prevent
the worst effects of climate change by adopting a ten-year mobilization effort to:
a) Encourage investment in renewable energy sources to generate electricity and
discourage investment in fossil fuels for energy production, with the goal of
achieving net -zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030; and
b) Improve public transportation infrastructure to encourage sustainable
transportation efforts, thereby reducing pollution; and
c) Encourage research and investment in battery technology for electric cars, in
new technologies to remove and sequester CO2 and other greenhouse gases
from the atmosphere, in recycling, in solar, wind, and tidal energy production,
and in new energy technologies.
Section 2. That, with the intent to close the income inequality gap and to prepare
U.S. citizens for living wage jobs enabling them to live in affordable and safe housing,
the Federal Government efforts to prevent the worst effects of climate change shall:
a) Be developed with the publicly transparent cooperation and consent of the
affected communities; and
b) Focus on rural and urban communities that have been historically under-
served and marginalized; and
c) Create sustainable and living wage jobs with family and medical leave,
universal health care, paid time off, and retirement security; and
d) Hire from within the affected polluted and carbon dependent communities to
restore ecosystems, clean up hazardous waste, upgrade existing buildings for
energy efficiency, and build the green infrastructure required to power the
U.S. economy for the next century.
Section 3. The City Council publicly endorses the Green New Deal and H.R. 763,
the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. The Energy Innovation and Carbon
Dividend Act of 2019, H.R. 763, specifies that, in order to protect low and middle income
citizens from the economic impact of rising prices due to a price on carbon, equal
monthly per -person dividend payments shall be made to all American households (1/z
payment per child under 19 years old) each month from the fossil fuel fees collected. The
total value of all monthly dividend payments shall represent 100% of the net carbon fees
collected per month. The Council encourages the Washington State Congressional
Delegation to respectively co-sponsor and publicly support H.R. 763 and the Green New
Deal.
Section 4. The City Council urges all voters on Bainbridge Island and throughout
Washington State to encourage their federal elected officials to support H.R. 763 and the
Green New Deal.
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PASSED by the City Council this 9th day of April, 2019.
APPROVED by the Mayor this 91h day of April, 2019.
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ATTEST/AUTHENTICATE:
By:
Christine Brown, , City Clerk
FILED WITH THE CITY CLERK: March 15, 2019
PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL: April 9, 2019
RESOLUTION NO. 2019-14
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