11.07.22 Dear Honorable City Council Members:
Thank you for arranging a Study session on Green Building Reach Codes. My group, Organizing for Action in Marin, is especially pleased because of the urgency of these decisions. We welcome an opportunity to learn and contribute.
I strongly support the letters you received from the Marin Conservation League (MCL) and Sustainable San Rafael (SSR). The latter’s admonition- the time to act is now- is my theme.
Several converging developments provide urgency and opportunities for following MCL and SSR recommendations:
1. The IPCC 6th Assessment, just out, makes clear that an increasing share of emissions can be attributed to towns and cities. The Assessment demonstrates that the world depends on moving rapidly to decarbonize. It suggests that existing buildings, if retrofitted – and buildings yet to be built – can approach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. That is, if policy packages, combining ambitious efficiency and renewable energy measures, are effectively implemented.
2. Unprecedented resources and incentives for electrification are now forthcoming through the Inflation Reduction Act and Governor Newsom’s $54 billion multiyear climate budget. A significant portion of these funds are earmarked to “enable low‐income and disadvantaged communities to deploy or benefit from zero‐emission technologies and other GHG reduction activities." Please refer to MCL attachments for the magnitude of Inflation Reduction Act Electrification Funding.
3. Finally, both the IRA and the State target dangerous levels of methane emissions, the principal component of natural gas. These reach codes are an opportunity for San Rafael to do likewise by curtailing natural gas in our buildings.
Thank you for the chance to comment, and for your leadership on climate action.
Belle Cole, San Rafael