Kara Odegard, City Council Sustainability Research Analyst
Wednesday, March 11, 2020 at 7:44 a.m.
Sustainability Working Group Seeking Public Input on Climate Action Plan
City Council Subcommittee will make recommendations for Council action
A group of Spokane experts and volunteers are studying the local impacts of climate change as part of the Sustainability Action Subcommittee (SAS), which was created by the Spokane City Council and tasked with drafting a Climate Action Plan. The SAS will recommend actions the city and the community at large can take to keep Spokane a vibrant place to live, work, and play for years to come.
“Many of us in Spokane remember winters that started in November and continued well into March with extended periods of snow cover. Now we’re seeing a trend of warming and a change in our winter precipitation patterns to more rain and less snow. Our winter sports season is shortened, agriculture is impacted, stream flows in the Spokane River are changing. Cherished community events like Bloomsday have already been impacted by rising temperatures. And what we’re asking ourselves on the SAS is: how as a community should we respond?” said Council’s Sustainability Research Analyst Kara Odegard, who leads SAS.
Between now and March 20, the SAS would like to hear from Spokane residents. If you would like your voice heard on the topic of climate change, please visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/spokane-sas-survey to complete the Climate Action Survey. Responses will be help build further community involvement and help develop Spokane’s Climate Action Plan.
“The City Council wants to hear from everyone in our community to learn how they think we should respond to our climate challenges,” City Council President Breean Beggs said. “We can only move forward if we listen to everybody."
