02-18-19 Joint Health and Public Safety and Utilities

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CI'T'Y OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK wrong, summer is great too, but the shortened jump from freezing to hot didn't seem right to me. I really missed out on spring. New research is showing that with the impacts of climate change, extreme weather might become the norm. We could jump right from hotter and hotter summers to the frigged twenty (20) below winters we experienced just a few weeks ago. There wouldn't be much of an in between. So, please, I encourage you to take action so that kids like myself can enjoy the spring weather for more than a week. So that winter-loving kids can enjoy the snow without the worry of getting frostbite after three (3) minutes. So that all kids can grow up in a world that they love. Thank you. Julia McKenna, 410 Peashway Street, stated, I'm a senior at John Adams High School and I'm seventeen (17) years old. According to the Arctic Council, there will be no more arctic ice by the time I turn fifty (50). According to the World Resources Institute, global flooding could triple before I turn thirty(30). By the end of the century, NASA predicts that global temperatures could rise by as much as seven (7) degrees Fahrenheit. This is the world that I live in. A world that is, by all accounts, destined for avoidable tragedy. A world that will be, and is, plagued by disasters that harm millions, if not billions, of people. There is no denying that climate change is upon us. It is too late for speculation and too late to debate climate skeptics. It's been too late for too long. As you already heard,five(5)years ago when I was in eighth(8th)grade, I started thinking of ways I could combat climate change. In my wonderfully passionate young perspective, I decided to begin the process of creating a climate change ordinance for the City of South Bend with the love and support of a very long list of amazing adults, like Andrew and Mara Garvey, and my many peer supporters around me. I won't repeat the many details of what you already heard was a very long and very hard process, but the point is, we're here. We are here because this isn't a political gamble or a naive eighth (8th) grader's wish. We are here because this is our future. For too long, we have sidestepped around climate change, too worried about cost, doubts, and for whatever excuse people have given. But, you owe it to us, to me, to fix this. This is our world, our future, our everything. If we don't do something about it now, we won't do something about it ever. And that is not fair. You can't deny us our future. I am more than thrilled to be here with you tonight and I commend your continued work on this issue. We have come here today to start a chapter in our commitment to a better world. To a world where children won't have to worry about getting lung cancer from industrial pollution. Where we won't need to constantly fear catastrophic disasters that threaten to demolish whole coasts of the United States. Where islanders won't have to claim refugee status because of rising shorelines. If we don't act now, we push further into a world ravaged by disease, poverty, environmental racism and by complete and utter disregard for science and the value of data. Our most vulnerable community members will be disproportionally affected by extreme weather events and increasing environment degradation. My kids will grow up in a world on the verge of collapse. I will grow up in a world on the verge of collapse. To me, this isn't a game, an extracurricular or a resume builder. This is me five (5) years from now. This is me ten (10) years from now. Thirty(30) years from now. Fifty (50). This is me now and me in the future. It is up to you to do something about it. Thank you. Jackie Brebeck, 1855 Vaness Street, stated, I will be entering a public comment for Tyler Newsome who really wishes he could be here. The City of South Bend and the people in it are something I hold near to my heart. Over the last few years, Notre Dame,people from the City and youth have been working together to make an impact with progress towards a climate ordinance. I firmly believe South Bend can be a difference maker and we have the willingness and the power to make this work. Being a sustainability minor has opened my eyes to what is happening in our world and what we can do to help mitigate climate change. This would be a step in the direction. EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION j EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227 W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221 f 574.235.9173 TTD 574.235.5567 wvwN.southbendin.gov 21