[bouldercouncilhotline] Hotline: NLC EENR Policy Committee update

[cmosupport at bouldercolorado.gov]

Sender: Appelbaum, Matt



Colleagues – One more belated update, this one on the fairly recent meeting of the Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Policy Committee of the National League of Cities, which I chair this year.  As usual, this third meeting of the
 year was the opportunity for EENR to really focus on the key topic for 2013, climate change adaptation and resiliency.  To that end, I chose the location of Pinecrest, Florida (whose mayor is on the committee), which is south of Miami and thus ground zero
 for the impacts of rising sea levels due to climate change.
 
I’ve attached a summary of the meeting prepared by NLC staff; note the various links at the end of the report, particularly the final one to the presentations.  While the Southeast Florida Compact is noteworthy, it’s one fairly limited
 step in a state that “officially” doesn’t believe in climate change and where, as you no doubt know, there is still enormous growth and building in exactly those locations that are certain to be most impacted.  The presentation by Dr. Wanless included remarkable
 maps showing just how much of southeast Florida would be underwater given various amounts of sea level rise; his clear conclusion is that all of it will be lost within the next 40 – 80 years.  Prior to the actual meeting we had a tour of the Everglades with
 the park superintendent, and heard more about the great damage that has been done (due largely to agricultural – mostly sugar! – interests and, of course, the huge influx of people into the surrounding area) and what is now being done to help recharge the
 water flow into the Everglades.
 
The result of this EENR meeting will be a set of recommended changes to NLC policy regarding climate change, as well as a new resolution regarding adaptation and resiliency.  These will be made final at the EENR meeting to be held next
 week at the fall conference; this is the last EENR meeting in this years’ cycle and thus my last as chair, although I can remain on the steering committee.  These recommendations are then taken to the NLC business meeting, also held at the conference, for
 approval by the membership.  While normally an easy process, EENR has been involved in two rather intense debates at the past two business meetings (and for various reasons I was the EENR rep at both meetings), the first regarding the Keystone XL pipeline
 (where our modest resolution was voted down by the membership), and the second regarding fracking (where our modest resolution was bizarrely voted down by the NLC Advisory Committee, then resurrected via petition by several of us, then supported by the membership
 after a very long debate).  While climate change adaptation and resiliency isn’t usually a divisive issue – since city leaders realize the impacts regardless of their views on climate change – some of the proposed modifications to NLC policy might cause some
 concerns.  Obviously I’d like NLC to get more involved in these issues, both via their lobbying efforts with Congress (and, more usefully, the administration), and also by promulgating more information to cities.
 
--Matt
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