new borough resolution kicks off fnsb climate plan implementation
On Thursday October 9th, the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly passed a resolution to make borough energy use tracking more transparent. This resolution was developed in collaboration with Assembly Member Mindy O’Neall and the Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition as a first step in implementing the 2024 Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. The resolution passed unanimously, 8-0, with support from all present assembly members.
We are so excited to see elements of the climate plan our community worked so hard on finally implemented as real policy. Our Policy and Politics Working Group worked hard on this over the past several months, and the passage of this resolution is a testament to the outsize impact we all can have on the local level.
But this is just the first step. Next, we plan to keep working with Assembly members to implement more climate plan goals as policy, bringing along as much of our community as we can in the process. The climate plan contains many different goals, so determining the order we address them in is important.
That’s why the FCAC Policy and Politics Working Group will be holding a series of listening sessions in the new year. Although we’ve started with climate plan priorities, local climate policy can include so much more than just what’s in the plan. The sky is the limit, which is why we plan to go to different neighborhoods to learn more about our community’s priorities.
Some of the climate plan goals that could be prioritized include:
- Expand the use of renewables at FNSB facilities
- Incentivize energy-efficient building design
-Improve pedestrian, bike, and transit infrastructure
-Support trade-school education for job skills in fields addressing climate adaptation and mitigation
- Encourage the development of local food storage and distribution centers
- Improve indoor air quality in FNSB buildings, prioritizing buildings that could serve as available public spaces during unhealthy air-quality periods
- And much more!
If you are interested in sharing your priorities or getting more involved with the FCAC Policy & Politics Working Group, email bella@fbxclimateaction.org or fill out this interest form.
