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CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK
<br /> full water capture system, and several rain gardens, and every inch of the land is used to its full
<br /> capacity. I have seen what little measures can be taken to preserve huge amounts of energy, fuel
<br /> and water, and to preserve our earth. It just starts with taking your first(1St) steps. Thank you.
<br /> Vic Myers, 336 West Navarre St., stated, I'm a retired research chemist and a member of Solarize
<br /> South Bend, and I've been advocating for climate change measures for some time. I thank the
<br /> Council for the opportunity to listen to comment and I prepared these remarks before hearing all
<br /> of the wonderful testimony already, and I'm very impressed with what is already being done, and
<br /> want to work with that. So this is commenting, not in opposition, but in support. In 2015, over
<br /> three(3)years ago, I attended an amazing two(2)day symposium at the University of Notre Dame,
<br /> which some of you may have been at. It was titled Climate Investing Transition to a Low Carbon
<br /> World, and it was filled with ideas and solutions from scientists, government officials,
<br /> entrepreneurs, and business executives. One(1)of the keynote speakers, Paul Hawkin,introduced
<br /> a project that he initiated called Project Drawdown, which recruited scientists and other experts
<br /> around the world to evaluate proven, existing solutions to reduce atmospheric carbon, and then
<br /> through research and peer review, vet the top one hundred (100) ideas in terms of their
<br /> effectiveness and cost at reducing carbon. He realized that offering workable solutions to the
<br /> serious threats of climate change would be much more effective at galvanizing the public than
<br /> preaching doom and gloom. He shows that it is feasible not merely to slow the buildup of CO2 but
<br /> actually to reduce atmospheric carbon levels, and that's the reason for the term drawdown. Very
<br /> aggressive, not something that everyone would think possible. So, I recommend that this Council
<br /> and working groups participating in this process, refer to this valuable list which can be found in
<br /> his book, published in 2017, but also available at the free website called drawdown.org. I filtered
<br /> this list to include the fifteen(15) solutions most relevant to South Bend, and northern Indiana and
<br /> arranged in terms of decreasing impact.Ranked number one(1)is refrigerant management,making
<br /> sure the CFCs, freon does not leak out. And wind turbines and solar are both mentioned, but we
<br /> should not overlook less obvious but impactful solutions in agriculture and other energy
<br /> conservation practices, no till farming, cover crops, composting, those have already been
<br /> mentioned. Biking and infrastructure for walking, etcetera. And I include my remarks.
<br /> Co-Committee Chair Teshka stated, I don't think we stated it specifically at this meeting, but
<br /> public comment is limited to three(3)minutes. If you have something written as Therese stated, it
<br /> will go into the public record. Electronic copies are helpful, too. You can always email the City
<br /> Council, the Clerk's Office, anything that you want to be placed into the record. Thank you.
<br /> Co-Committee Chair Broden stated,And it does help with the compilation of the minutes after this
<br /> event that we can take the electronic and match that to the audio/video and it actually helps
<br /> expedite that.
<br /> Lucy Garvey 2128 Portage Avenue, stated, I am nine (9) years old. My family and I have a few
<br /> habits that I think might be easy for others to do as well. For example,we compost our food scraps
<br /> and yard waste. We never water our lawn and we are replacing grass with fruit trees and native
<br /> flowers. We have rain barrels to capture water and give to our plants, and we try not to use too
<br /> many prepackaged items, especially plastic water bottles,bags and straws. Thank you.
<br /> Chris Vander Bossche, 1735 W. Northshore Drive, stated, I'm here to talk about one (1) piece of
<br /> the mitigation that's already been mentioned, bicycling. I'm a member of the Bike Michiana
<br /> Coalition, and I also work on the City Advisory Committee. If you go to the Bike Michiana
<br /> EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT
<br /> 455 County-City Building 227W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221 f 574.235.9173 TTD 574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov
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