Special Meeting of the Joint Sustainability Committee August 26, 2020 Joint Sustainability Committee to be held August 26, 2020 with Social Distancing Modifications Public comment will be allowed via telephone; no in-person input will be allowed. All speakers must register in advance (August 25, 2020). All public comment will occur at the beginning of the meeting. To speak remotely at the August 26, 2020 Joint Sustainability Committee Meeting, residents must: •Call or email the board liaison at 415-694-3111 and zach.baumer@austintexas.gov no later than noon, (August 25, 2020). The information required is the speaker name, item number(s) they wish to speak on, whether they are for/against/neutral, and a telephone number or email address. •Once a request to speak has been called in or emailed to the board liaison, residents will receive either an email or phone call providing the telephone number to call on the day of the scheduled meeting. •Speakers must call in at least 15 minutes prior to meeting start in order to speak, late callers will not be accepted and will not be able to speak. •Speakers will be placed in a queue until their time to speak. •Handouts or other information may be emailed to zach.baumer@austintexas.gov by Noon the day before the scheduled meeting. This information will be provided to Board and Commission members in advance of the meeting. JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE August 26, 2020 (1:00 pm) VIA VIDEOCONFERENCING CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS: Kaiba White, Chair (Resource Mgmt. Commission) Katie Coyne, Vice-Chair (Environmental Commission) Melissa Rothrock (Zero Waste Advisory Commission) Kelly Davis (Urban Transportation Commission) Fisayo Fadelu (Community Development Commission) Karen Magid (Austin Travis County Food Policy Board) Nhat Ho (Water & Wastewater Commission) Holt Lackey (Economic Prosperity Commission) Vacant - (Parks & Recreation Board) David Carroll (Design Commission) Alberta Phillips (City Council) Karen Hadden (Electric Utility Commission) Rob Schneider (Planning Commission) For more information, please visit: www.austintexas.gov/jsc AGENDA CALL TO ORDER CITIZEN COMMUNICATION The speakers who registered in advance for public comment have three minutes each to address items on the agenda at this time. 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) July 22, 2020 meeting of the Joint Sustainability Committee 2. NEW BUSINESS possible action) a) Presentation and Review of the Draft Austin Climate Equity Plan (Discussion and/or b) Commission members report back on any relevant discussions from their respective boards and commissions – (Discussion and/or possible action) FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS • Planet Texas 2050 presentation • Food …
COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Joint Sustainability Committee Recommendation 20200826-2A Supporting the Austin Climate Equity Plan WHEREAS, the City Council passed Resolution No. 20150604-048 adopting the Austin Community Climate Plan and creating the Joint Sustainability Committee; and WHEREAS, the Austin Community Climate Plan includes a schedule for reporting and updates, with a full plan revision in 2020; and WHEREAS, the harmful effects of climate change, including floods, droughts, heat waves and wildfires, are worsening in the Austin area and around the world; and WHEREAS, the “Global Warming of 1.5 °C” issued in 2018 by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change illustrates that keeping the average global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius will help to avoid severe effects of climate change, including ecosystems collapsing, that will very likely occur if warming reaches 2 degrees Celsius; and WHEREAS, low-income communities and communities of color in Austin and around the world are the most impacted by extreme weather and pollution despite having contributed least to the drivers of climate change and pollution; and WHEREAS, harmful land use and the refusal to create or enforce real environmental regulations continue to disproportionately expose communities of color to environmental harms, leading to unjust quality of life outcomes both historically and today; and WHEREAS, low-income communities and communities of color must be prioritized to receive the disproportionate benefits of the transition to a pollution-free society to remedy disproportionate harm done historically and presently; and WHEREAS, if we design and implement programs to serve low-income communities and communities of color, we will positively impact all residents in the Austin area; and WHEREAS, the Paris Agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change set a goal of “keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius”; and WHEREAS, current international, federal, state and local commitments to greenhouse gas reduction fall short of what is needed to keep average global warming to either 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius and the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s “Emissions Gap Report 2019” illustrates the significant magnitude in the gap between international commitments and needed emissions reductions; and WHEREAS, the City of Austin is a member of C40 Cities, a network of global cities committed to addressing climate change; and WHEREAS, C40 Cities has developed guidance for cities on setting greenhouse …
2020 Austin Climate Equity Plan August 2020 Summary ● We’ve been updating the Community Climate Plan o First draft has been internally reviewed o Draft for public comment coming out next week – full and summary documents. o Council in October ● What we’re looking for from you: ○ Comments ○ Areas of Interest ○ Pledge of Support 2015 Community Climate Plan Adopted by Council in June 2015 Electricity & Natural Gas Transportation & Land Use Materials & Waste Management 135 qualitative actions directed at departments 2 0 1 7 Travis C ounty C arbon Footprint 12.5 million metric tons carbon dioxide-equivalent Industrial Processes How was this plan update created? • 24 City Staff • 120 Community Members (NGO, Govt., Business) • 12 Ambassadors • 4 Equity Trainings • 5 Community Workshops (over 250 attendees) • 14 Steering Committee Meetings • 60+ Advisory Group Meetings • 50+ Interviews by Ambassadors Steering Committee Members Co-Chairs Mayuri Raja, AZAAD, Google Shane Johnson, Sierra Club Katie Coyne, Asakura Robinson Susana Almanza, PODER Joep Meijer, Citizen Jim Walker, Univ. of Texas Rocio Villalobos, Equity Office Drew Nelson, Mitchell Foundation Rodrigo Leal, Guidehouse Rene Renteria, Citizen Kaiba White, Public Citizen Lauren Peressini, Sunrise Movement Shawanda Stewart, Huston-Tillotson Univ. Kenneth Thompson, Solar Austin Ben Leibowicz, Univ. of Texas Suzanne Russo, Pecan Street Inc. Pooja Sethi, Sethi Law Darien Clary, AISD Alberta Phillips, Joint Sustainability Committee, ECHO AG Representatives: Nakia Winfield, Brandi Clark Burton, Karen Magid, Kurt Stogdill, and Nick Kincaid A History of Inequities that Remains Today • The Austin 1928 Master Plan divided the city along racial lines, forcibly displacing Black residents into specific, undesirable areas. • The Tank Farm fuel storage facility, Eastside Landfill, and the Holly Power Plant exposed people of color to toxic pollution in East Austin neighborhoods. • Gentrification is taking place in parts of the city where low-income people and people of color have been forced to live, the African-American share of the Austin population declined from 12% in 1990 to 7.7% in 2010. • As of 2015, 52% of white Austin residents were homeowners, only 27% of African-American and 32% of Hispanic/Latinx residents owned homes. • Cases of COVID-19, hospitalization and mortality rates are disproportionately affecting Latinx and Black communities We are Changing the Earth’s Climate Warming over 2℃could be catastrophic to life on earth Climate Projections for Austin • Low-income communities and communities of color are disproportionately affected …
Item 1 JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING August 26, 2020 The Joint Sustainability Committee convened in a special meeting on August 26, 2020 via videoconferencing. Chair Kaiba White called the Board Meeting to order at 1:03 pm. Board Members in Attendance: Kaiba White Chair, Fisayo Fadelu, Rob Schneider, Holt Lackey, Karen Magid, David Carroll, Alberta Phillips, Kelly Davis, Nhat Ho, Katie Coyne Vice-Chair, Melissa Rothrock, Karen Hadden Board Members Absent: None City Staff in Attendance: Zach Baumer, Phoebe Romero CALL TO ORDER CITIZEN COMMUNICATION The speakers who registered in advance for public comment have three minutes each to address items on the agenda at this time. • None 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) July 22, 2020 meeting of the Joint Sustainability Committee • Motion to approve (Commissioner Coyne), second (Commissioner Lackey), 10 approved, 0 opposed, 2 abstained. 2. NEW BUSINESS a) Presentation and Review of the Draft Austin Climate Equity Plan (Discussion and/or possible action) • Office of Sustainability staff provided overview of plan process and all draft goals • Reviewed equity-focused process, themes, tool and Community Climate and strategies Ambassadors program • Overall, the new proposed community-wide target is to be Net Zero by 2040 and pursue negative emissions to 2050. There are 18 goals and 75 strategies. Three goals are cross-cutting big picture, and the rest are across five topic areas, including: o Sustainable Buildings o Transportation and Land Use o Transportation Electrification o Natural Systems o Food and Product Consumption • Reviewed implications of strategies in meeting emissions reduction targets • Discussion on questions regarding new additions to plan, regional collaboration and alignment with other Texas cities and the baseline for goals. • The Recommendation for Supporting the Austin Climate Equity Plan was approved with the following friendly amendments on motion by (Commissioner White), seconded by (Commissioner Coyne) on a 10 approved, 0 opposed, 0 abstained vote. A friendly amendment by Commissioner Davis to fix a typo was adjusted. A friendly amendment by Commissioner Carroll to clarify that the five additional members proposed for the Joint Sustainability be appointed by council. b) Commission members report back on any relevant discussions from their respective boards and commissions – (Discussion and/or possible action) • None discussed FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS • None discussed Motion to adjourn (Commissioner White). Meeting adjourns at 2:33 pm. ADJOURNMENT The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the American with Disabilities Act. …
