Activated Blog

Calling Cities for Climate

I spoke to the Beaverton City Council meeting on November 15th to ask them to prioritize climate in their upcoming retreat in early 2023. With the increasingly dire state of the climate crisis, I wanted them to hear from their constituents that climate is a top priority. Many of the council members know that climate is important, but they need to hear from us that we will support them if they take bigger policy steps. These were my prepared remarks:

I know that climate is important to this council - thank you for supporting initiatives like 1st Street Commons to make downtown more pedestrian friendly and getting rid of parking minimums. I am calling to ask this council to be even more ambitious on prioritizing climate policy as you plan for the coming year.

Antonio Gutters, Secretary General of the UN recently said "We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator. Our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible. We need urgent climate action."

The reason I'm calling in today are because of my kids. Ezra is three and a half, and he loves trains, Legos, and riding his bike. He is old enough to start noticing the wildfires and hears about climate change. Miri is almost eight months, and she loves her brother, crawling, and crawling to her brother's toys. She has such an innocent, beautiful smile. They both need a world to grow up in. While climate change is a big issue and Beaverton can't solve it alone, Beaverton's actions are a necessary part of avoiding climate hell.

I ask that this council make the Climate Action Plan that has already been developed the heart of policy and implementation in Beaverton. I want to see plans, such as the Active Transportation Plan to be implemented so that I can safely bike my kid to school. I want to see Beaverton use exciting ideas from other cities, such as Eugene banning natural gas in new buildings, Denver offering e-bike subsidies, and Tigard lowering residential speed limits to 20 miles per hour. Thank you for your time today.

Would you consider calling in to the Beaverton City Council if you live or work here? Upcoming City Council Meetings are on December 6th and December 20th, starting at 6PM. At the start of each one, there is a public comment section, where members of the public can make a three minute statement via Zoom (no need to even go to City Hall!). You can find the Zoom link and City Council agendas here closer to the date of the meeting. I felt nervous about calling in, but I asked myself, "Am I willing to talk for a couple minutes for Ezra and Miri's future?" Framed like that, it made it an easy choice.

I hope you will join me! You should prepare your own statement, but I recommend a combination of making it clear what you're asking for as well as why it's important to you. I believe this council wants to do the right things, but they need to hear from us that it matters and is worth fighting for.