RES 322 Draft 02 2018-2020 - Laserfiche WebLink

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WHEREAS, the term "Just Transition" is a framework for a fair shift to an economy that is ecologically sustainable, equitable and just for all its members, and recognizing just transition strategies were first forged by the BlueGreen Alliance of labor unions and environmental justice groups who saw the need to phase out the industries that were harming workers, community health, and the planet, while also providing just pathways for workers into new livelihoods; and WHEREAS,just transition initiatives shift the economy from dirty energy to energy democracy, from funding highways to expanding public transit, from incinerators and landfills to zero waste, from industrial food systems to food sovereignty, from car- dependent sprawl and unbridled growth to smart urban development without displacement, and from rampant, destructive over-development to habitat and ecosystem restoration; and WHEREAS,justice requires that frontline communities,which have historically borne the brunt of the extractive fossil-fuel economy, participate actively in the planning and implementation of this mobilization effort at all levels of government and that they benefit first from the transition to a renewable energy economy, and recognizing fairness demands a guarantee of high-paying, good-quality jobs with comprehensive benefits for all and many other tenets of a Green New Deal effort as the mobilization to restore a safe climate is launched; and WHEREAS,the County of Hawai`i has an opportunity to continue to be a global leader by rapidly organizing a regional emergency climate mobilization effort and converting to an ecologically, socially, and economically regenerative economy at emergency speed, and by catalyzing a unified regional just transition and climate emergency mobilization effort this year; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII that the County of Hawai`i acknowledges that an existential climate emergency threatens humanity and the natural world. Therefore, the County of Hawaii will implement a just, equitable, countywide emergency climate mobilization effort to reverse global warming, by drastically reducing countywide emissions of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases, and safely drawing down carbon from the atmosphere no later than 2030, while accelerating adaptation and resilience strategies in preparation for intensifying climate change impacts. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County of Hawaii commits to revising its existing policies, priorities, processes, and use and distribution of resources to implement emergency climate mobilization efforts countywide, including the development of an environmentally preferable purchasing policy to guide efficient, consistent, and just action. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County of Hawaii commits to rapidly completing the Hawaii Island Climate Action plan by establishing ambitious goals, consistent with or exceeding State goals and objectives; and working immediately to implement the paths laid out in said plan, including phasing out existing sources of greenhouse gas emissions and implementing initiatives such as tree planting, to sequester carbon from the air. 3