|
REGULAR MEETING April 22, 2019
<br /> to thank him as well. I would like the audience to bring their attention to a piece of information
<br /> that we placed in our record and that is the article from the Indiana Environmental Reporter. It was
<br /> a poll that was conducted, and it concludes that a larger majority of our Hoosier State believe in
<br /> climate change. It points to a number of important statements and this information will be on our
<br /> website as well.Again,this is a great beginning and we will continue to move forward. I appreciate
<br /> the timelines that are in the resolution because on Wednesday of this week, we will actually be
<br /> starting the budget process. So, the timing moving forward is very important. We will ensure that
<br /> we will meet those timelines and targets.
<br /> This being the time heretofore set for the Public Hearing on the above bills, proponents and
<br /> opponents were given an opportunity to be heard.
<br /> Julia McKenna, 410 Peashway Street, South Bend, IN, stated, I am a senior at John Adams High
<br /> School. The City of South Bend's website opens with the statement, We deliver services that
<br /> empower everyone to thrive. It begins with a promise to citizens that the purpose of our
<br /> government is to ensure the flourishing of our community. What does it mean, then, for us to be a
<br /> sustainable City? Climate change is the antithesis of this opening value statement. It does nothing
<br /> but bring environmental destruction,poverty,disease, extinction and terror. No citizen will be able
<br /> to thrive in a world that is ravaged by preventable disaster. How, then, can our City be effective in
<br /> achieving any of our goals if we do not take aggressive steps to combat climate change? Being a
<br /> young person on the tipping point of the climate crisis feels a bit like starting a board game late
<br /> and not being given all the pieces. It feels like everyone else started with power-ups, money and
<br /> time that I was not allotted. As a seventeen (17) year old, for my entire life, I have watched many
<br /> elected leaders play with such a crisis as though it is nothing more than a game. How is there any
<br /> justice in playing a game where not everyone has a fair start? How is it fair to deny children a
<br /> future that is livable,purely because of an inability and unwillingness to acknowledge science and
<br /> implement sustainable measures? I am here for a third (3rd) time asking you to not only support
<br /> this resolution as a first(1St) step in South Bend's legislative path to climate resilience, but as part
<br /> of a larger plan that will make South Bend on the right path to preparing for and mitigating climate
<br /> change and its effects. In 1988, James Hanson testified before the US Senate about the dangers of
<br /> climate change. I was born in July of 2001. In the thirteen (13) years between this testimony and
<br /> me, nothing significant has changed. And in the seventeen (17) years since then, still, nothing
<br /> significant has changed. I have grown up in a world watching everyone else play with the pieces
<br /> of a future that I will be the one(1) to live out. So, I'm asking you today, whether you do it in the
<br /> name of science, or justice, responsibility or politics, to please sign this resolution. We need this,
<br /> and so much more, in order to make our City thrive. Thank you. It has been such an honor to work
<br /> on this project in our incredible City for the last five(5) years.
<br /> Jennifer Betz, 23150 Roosevelt Road, South Bend, IN, stated, I am part of two (2) groups. The
<br /> Environment Network of Northern Indiana and the Open Space and Agricultural Alliance,but I'm
<br /> here on my own this evening. We are very excited for all the hard work that has been done. I want
<br /> to thank everyone in the room for all the effort you have put in. Especially to the young people,
<br /> you have shown us that change is possible and sometimes we just have to keep working. So, thank
<br /> you. I would like to encourage the Council to pass this. I think it is a wonderful step forward for
<br /> our City and the possibilities are exciting. The point I really wanted to talk about is about climate
<br /> leadership. I feel like on the Council, you are in a very unique position in that you are Common
<br /> Council Members and are elected officials, but you are also citizens. And you, also, have elected
<br /> officials who represent you. I'm here and I wanted to say something because we have a County
<br /> Economic Development Director who was quoted in the South Bend Tribune on February 10th,
<br /> 2018 and actually said, "We will continue to chase smokestacks." If that is the kind of thinking
<br /> happening at the County level,no matter what the City does,there will still be these greater forces.
<br /> Councilmember Teshka spoke out really well about the fact that we have to start small, but we
<br /> have to keep pushing up. You all are in such an amazing position, if you pass this tonight, to take
<br /> it forward to the County, to the Commissioners and Council and say this can't just stay in South
<br /> Bend. This has to go bigger. I want to ask for both a favorable vote and also for you to join us in
<br /> trying to keep pushing this up and making a world where everyone has a fair shot, as Julia so
<br /> beautifully stated. Thank you.
<br /> 9
<br />
|