By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Assembly voted Tuesday night for the re-establishment of a task force on climate change in Sitka.
The original motion passed with an amendment by Assembly member Kevin Knox which opened the possibility of creating a more permanent city sustainability commission.
The motion passed 5-1, with only Valorie Nelson voting against it. The amendment passed 4-2, with Nelson and Thor Christiansen opposed. Christiansen argued that the amendment was redundant. He advocated quick action on the issue.
“I want to get to work and get it done and get it going,” he said.
The resolution also declared that a climate emergency threatens the city, nation, and natural world, and stipulated that the selection process for the new body should take no more than three months.
As stated in the resolution, the task force members “shall be responsible for studying and making recommendations to the Sitka Assembly on ways to plan for and mitigate the impacts of climate change on the City and Borough of Sitka’s economy, infrastructure and future development, and methods the City and Borough of Sitka can employ to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.”
A number of Sitkans at the meeting pushed for the formation of a commission as opposed to a task force, arguing that climate change poses a long-term threat and requires long-term solutions.
Co-founder of Youth for Sustainable Futures and Sitka High student Darby Osborne asked the assembly to form a commission.
“I ask that the climate task force (in the original motion) is changed to a commission… “(as) a long-term body is necessary due to the constant and ongoing nature of climate change,” Osborne testified.
Tava Guillory, also a student and member of YSF, agreed with Osborne.
“A task force is not equipped for that longevity,” Guillory said.
Elizabeth Bagley told the Assembly that she supports the formation of a longer term commission because she sees that as in the best interest of her children.
“I really want them to be able to live here in Sitka, to thrive here. But I am really concerned about their future… Ensure longevity, and ideally a commission on sustainability,” Bagley said.
Former Assembly member Richard Wein suggested rolling a sustainability commission into an existing body.
“This is a good idea to have this in place. The question is how to deal with it, whether it should be as stated here as a task force or a commission. My suggestion would be to repurpose the Health Needs and Human Services Commission,” Wein said.
Assembly member Kevin Mosher, one of the co-sponsors of the resolution along with Nelson, questioned the human role in climate change, but said that he nonetheless supports sustainability.
“My position on climate change is that it’s real, but I’m not convinced it is caused by or can be changed by human behavior. That being said, I am all for sustainable living and sustainable energy. My biggest concern is that we do it smartly and don’t put a burden on people that they can’t afford,” Mosher said.
Christiansen supported the motion and advocated for longer term solutions.
“If we solve the climate crisis in three months we should get a Nobel Prize.. At the very least I would like to see a mechanism for renewing (a task force or commission),” he said.
Knox agreed.
“The amendment that I offered was to outline the policy of forming a sustainability commission, a long term commission… It’s my hope that what the task force will do is tackle some short-term goals,” Knox said in an interview today.
