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35 <br />36 Acting Chair Wozniak thanked Ms. Morton and thought there was an item on the <br />37 agenda regarding the Green Steps program. He stated the Public Works <br />38 Environment and Transportation Commission is the Green Team that is probably <br />39 most responsible for taking on the Comprehensive Plan strategies and action steps <br />40 that would address climate change. He stated he shared Ms. Morton's concerns <br />41 about the lack of evident progress and have been a little disappointed, not <br />42 necessarily with the Commission, but with some attempts that some members of <br />43 the public have made and in many cases, not made, to address some climate change <br />44 issues and he would encourage the Commissioners to focus on this issue a little <br />45 more going forward. <br />46 <br />47 Ms. Morton stated there are about five major construction projects either very <br />48 recently built or in progress that are within a mile of her house and four of them <br />49 have taken down acreage of trees and her thought was even if these are totally green <br />50 projects with completely green energy that is a net increase to the CO2 footprint. <br />51 She did not know if it was policy to replant trees and she did not think that was <br />52 necessarily a great solution but for any new development she wondered if the City <br />53 was putting stringent energy requirements on them because within thirty years these <br />54 may be mandated to be completely green on projects that have not gotten through <br />55 their lifespan of usefulness. It does not seem to her that the City is doing anyone a <br />56 favor allowing non -green energy to be constructed now and then in a decade or two <br />57 mandating the Company to switch over to something green as the climate gets <br />58 worse and the problem gets worse. <br />59 <br />60 Chair Cihacek asked Ms. Morton what she meant by green energy. <br />61 <br />62 Ms. Morton stated she meant non -fossil fuel. <br />63 IF <br />64 Chair Cihacek noted solar or thermal energy or wind should be the only option then. <br />65 <br />66 Ms. Morton indicated she was not sure, maybe nuclear energy was on the horizon <br />67 but right now the City has solar or wind. <br />68 <br />69 Chair Cihacek stated right now the mandate has to be feasible so it is hard at this <br />70 point for a company to get to one hundred percent green energy. One percent is <br />71 more feasible right now. He indicated the City could review the building code to a <br />72 degree to see what the City can do to reduce or mandate other areas that improve <br />73 the building climate and overall climate because it is hard to mandate something at <br />74 this point in the private sector. <br />75 <br />76 Ms. Morton noted people can opt to have one hundred percent clean energy on their <br />77 electrical and when digging in the earth the companies can build in geothermal. <br />78 She stated she was not saying this is what is imperative and does not have enough <br />79 information to say this is what we should do but it is the direction she believed the <br />80 City needed to go. <br />Page 2 of 11 <br />