Testimony for Carbon Neutral Cities, Cool Roofs and a Zero Emission Fleet
by Olivia Yates and Stephen Leas
Carbon Neutral Cities
by Stephen Leas
Thank you Committee Chair McCray and Members of the Committee,
My name is Stephen Leas and I am the political co-lead with Sunrise Movement Baltimore as well as a coordinator for Sunrise Movement Maryland. We are a youth-led movement fighting for a Green New Deal to create millions of jobs fighting the climate crisis while prioritizing frontline communities. I am testifying in favor of Global Warming Solutions — Carbon Neutral City, with amendments.
We thank Councilman Conway for his leadership in drafting this bill and we also thank the Mayor and the Office of Sustainability for their work with the sustainability plan.
Many of our youth members are terrified about the climate crisis that is already unfolding before our eyes. Fires ravage forests at alarming rates and destroy entire towns in California and Colorado, worsened by warming and droughts. Here on the east coast, flooding, recordbreaking storms and unsettling weather patterns are raising alarm bells. The risk of increasingly powerful hurricanes and superstorms grows each year. As we approach the third year of a taxing pandemic, we should remember that new infectious diseases will become more common as warming worsens. As permafrost thaws, there is even a risk of ancient diseases being released that we have no immunity to.
The implications are frightening. The climate crisis disproportionately impacts young people who will be forced to survive in a world in which the livable ecosystem has been irreparably harmed. Low income communities and people of color are disproportionately affected as well. In Baltimore, the heat island effect worsens the direct impact of warming on communities, as was recently discussed in last week’s hearing on green roofs. These are dangers we already see everyday having only experienced 1*C of warming We are currently on track to reach 3*C or more of warming, the consequences of which are dire.
Unfortunately, action in line with science has been delayed, fallen upon deaf ears, and co opted by industries offering false solutions for profit. The recent movie “Don’t Look Up,” satirizes climate delay and the fact that we are risking our own extinction because businesses, governments, and the media minimize the threat. It’s immense popularity indicates that the public resonates with the message that we need climate action now, and that the usual excuses won’t work anymore.
We can still keep prevent warming below 1.5*C. While the climate crisis is the biggest existential threat of our time — it is also the biggest opportunity. In the Sunrise Movement, we are fighting for the Green New Deal, a sweeping federal resolution that outlines a rapid transition to reduce greenhouse gasses, asserting that it is vital to guarantee economic rights during a systemic transition, and that frontline communities left out of the original New Deal must be prioritized.
We can guarantee good union jobs in the green economy — in solar energy on rooftops, energy efficiency retrofits in low income communities to reduce buildings emissions & energy burden, in sustainable urban ag, in zero waste and the care economy. We can slash emissions by ending trash incineration, coal exports, and burning of natural gas, oil and gasoline. We can guarantee the right to housing and healthcare. We can empower communities through the green transition to have greater collaboration with the city, and democratic input into the economy. Baltimore can lead the way towards a truly green and just economy by passing the Carbon Neutral Cities Resolution.
We urge the council to vote for this bill and to adopt additional language that guarantees economic rights during the green transition such as healthcare, housing and the right to good union jobs. We also urge the council to adopt the J40 language the Biden administration is adopting, whereby 40% of benefits go toward frontline communities. We also support Blue Water Baltimore’s amendment to use net-zero language instead of carbon neutral language, so that all direct emissions that can be reduced are reduced. We also propose the council adopts language, either in this resolution or another vehicle, to plan a transition to true zero emissions. There is an alarming trend in some corners of the policy world to adopt questionable solutions that are not backed by science, such as carbon capture technology and an overreliance on carbon offsets. These are proposed by the fossil fuel industries most responsible for the problem and who have a history of holding real action hostage through misinformation campaigns & legalized bribery. Scaling down the fossil fuel industry and other polluting industries is what will work. We also urge the council to consider more ambitious interval targets. The Sustainability Plan identifies better targets, but consider that in Montgomery County, the official goal is 100% greenhouse gas reductions by 2035. If Baltimore and Montgomery County both set and achieve truly ambitious climate goals, our city and our state will be a leader on the world stage for climate action. All it takes is political will and a commitment to our future.
You can follow Stephen on twitter at @StephenLeas
Cool Roofs Testimony
by Olivia Yates
Dear Committee Chair Schleifer and Members of the Committee,
My name is Olivia Yates, a Baltimore City resident and a member of Sunrise Movement Baltimore. Thank you for taking climate change seriously and listening to the community’s concerns. Today, I am asking that you support Building Code — Cool Roofs (21–0160) with amendments to require cool roofs on all new construction as well as efforts to enact efforts to rapidly expand rooftop solar.
As you know, much of the housing in Baltimore City is made up of rowhomes. Many of these rowhomes have a heat-absorbing roof, and in the summer when these roofs get hotter temperatures within the house- primarily on the top floor- rise, making it difficult to stay in the house. Speaking from experience, when a row home, mainly those without an installed cooling system, gets hot the alternative is an air conditioner that is on all night and day. With a cool roof, energy bills will be reduced by the decreasing need for air conditioners and help used and inefficient air conditioners to provide enough cooling.
Another way cool roofs will be helpful is in schools. I remember vividly my days in middle school sitting in the sweltering heat with nothing but a fan to cool the room. On those days, the last place I wanted to be was in school because it was simply too hot. Cool roofs are not only a chance to cool down schools, but it also gives students the chance to learn about the effects of climate change and the steps people are taking against it.
Implementing cool roofs on buildings owned or funded by the City is positive, but it can be taken a step farther by including an amendment that would require cool roofs to be built on all new construction. This will not only help fight climate change but make the relief felt from cool roofs more widespread.
Finally, cool roofs are a good first step in the fight against climate change and cooling down Baltimore while uplifting those in low-income communities. When thinking about roofing — adapting to climate with initiatives like these is important, but we urge the city to also enact efforts that will rapidly expand rooftop solar so that Baltimore can be a leader in preventing climate change.
I urge you to support Building Code — Cool Roofs (21–0160). Thank you.
Zero Emission Vehicles
by Olivia Yates
Dear Committee Chair Costello and Members of the Committee,
My name is Olivia Yates and I am representing Sunrise Movement Baltimore. Today, I am asking that you support Procurement — Zero-Emission Vehicles (21–0159).
In 2019 in the United States, 29% of greenhouse gas emissions came from transportation. Out of other categories like electricity production, agriculture, and industry the transportation sector leads in all of them in the United States in the creation of greenhouse gases. So to get 50% of Baltimore City’s feet to be zero-emission by 2030, and 100% of the fleet to be zero-emission by 2040 is a good plan to not only bring down carbon emissions in Baltimore but also limit its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions in the country overall.
Zero-emissions vehicles also last longer and require less maintenance than a gas-powered vehicle does, offering Baltimore City a more sustainable option. These vehicles are better for the environment and our health by significantly reducing pollution from exhaust emissions, which should contribute to changing the City’s air quality, which also means less health care costs due to the decreasing number of people with health conditions. Also, zero-emissions vehicles have the added benefit of being quieter, which will mean less noise pollution.
Lastly, transitioning the fleet to zero emissions is also an opportunity to look at Baltimore’s transportation system as a whole, and who is not benefiting from the current system.
For all of these reasons, I am asking that you support Procurement — Zero-Emission Vehicles (21–0159). Thank you.
Olivia Yates and Stephen Leas are co-leads of the Political/Partnerships team of Sunrise Mvt Baltimore. Stephen Leas is also the coordinator for the Sunrise Mvt MD Coalition.
You can follow Stephen on twitter at @StephenLeas
