The Town of Huntsville has signed on to do its part in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Spurred on by Climate Action Muskoka—a local not-for-profit group concerned about climate change and its impacts—Huntsville councillors unanimously agreed to join the Town of Gravenhurst and District of Muskoka and declare a climate emergency.
The resolution presented at the June 28 council meeting cited a United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2018 report, which notes that the current climate heating rate “will lead to catastrophic social, economic, cultural and environmental impacts throughout the world and estimates less than 10 years before the worst impacts of climate change are experienced.”
It also states that much of the financial impacts of climate change will be felt at the municipal level related to damaged roads, bridges, water, sewer and stormwater systems, and destruction of natural infrastructure.
It adds that it is not only necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions “but also to increase community resiliency in the face of climate change, and that these approaches can offer multiple benefits, including improved health and air quality, increased innovation, economic development and reduced costs over time. The Town of Huntsville wishes to protect its economy, community, and ecosystems from the impacts of our changing climate.”
The resolution also states that a climate action plan (CAP) will be developed in collaboration with other lower-tier municipalities, and that the municipality will seek technical assistance from the District of Muskoka and seek to reduce corporate and community greenhouse gas emissions.
“This baseline CAP will be further refined by the Town of Huntsville to: identify firm, ambitious targets with a goal of greater than 50% reduction of GHG emissions by 2030 and reaching zero GHG emissions by 2050; work to become a drawdown/regenerative community; and take an active role in the repair and regeneration of our systems, including in the areas of the built environment, natural infrastructure, land use, transportation, energy, waste, health, and food security,” notes the resolution.
The Town will work not only with other municipalities but other institutions and industry associations to “improve standards and protocols that can positively address climate adaptation and mitigation, as well as seek and secure funding opportunities from both internal and external sources for 2021 and beyond to adequately finance climate actions necessary to meet 2030 and 2050 emission reduction targets.”
It urges provincial and federal governments and opposition parties “to work rapidly to deliver the GHG emission reductions needed to keep global heating below the 1.5°C goal to minimize the threatening impacts of climate change, including by forwarding this resolution to the Premier of Ontario, the Prime Minister of Canada, the Ontario Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks, the Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Member of Provincial Parliament for Parry Sound – Muskoka, the Member of Parliament for Parry Sound – Muskoka, the leaders of the other political parties with members in government, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.”
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Will the Town of Huntsville also pass a climate emergency resolution?
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It would seem that people are more worried about taxes (that are revenue neutral) than any chance for our children to have a future and these same people receive their carbon rebate every year. Has any one of these people done the math to see how they are being taxed to death?
I guess the denialotti reached enough people with disinformation now that they now dutifully parrot this propaganda like its the truth without so much as a try at fact checking this crap. at least the councilors are aware and like the competent people they are realized the depth of the problem and are doing something about it and I applaud them for that informed decision. I am grateful for their education and ability to see through the smoke screen
I realize that on any decision that government makes there will be naysayers but its too bad that there seems to be a me first attitude and to heck with anything that cramps my style. Democracy is majority rule so these people (which thankfully are a minority) will just have to adapt to a world with sustainable energy and stable climate.
The bigger problem might be those ill informed becoming a majority and taking us down a Trump like path to oblivion
I’m old enough to remember that science said we would be out of oil long before now and the arctic ice would be long gone New York City plus the whole east coast would be under water. Not one prediction from back then has happened. Now we are supposed to believe them again after they have been wrong so many times in the past. There is no doubt that our world is getting warmer no one can deny that. Just what can be done about it is another thing. I can remember complaining about the cold back in the late 40s and my grand parents saying what are you complaining about winter is not any where near as bad as it was when we were young now I tell my Grand children the same thing.
There is a lot of misinfomration on the topic of climate change – more so possibly than any other in recent history. That being said, it sounds like the majority of the scientific community is now in agreement that climate change is real and that the worst impact we have had on the earth is in the last 100 years. Either way, how can you argue against reducing pollution and removing our depedance on dirty technology? There is one thing we know for sure, and that is that the amount of fossil fuels is limited and will run out. It is just a question of when. Why not get prepared for that now instead of rushing to do it later?
A very ambitious goal. If we all, worldwide, could reach the Huntsville 2050 goal by 2030 you might have a bunch of happy polar bears send you than you cards but I doubt this will happen.
What I would like to know is exactly how this goal is to be measured? This would seem to be the very first thing needed and I’m not aware of any current method to do this with accuracy and reliability. I’ll be watching for this data to come forward.
One thing for sure is that wholesale switching to electric cars will not be the ticket to success here!
Mayor and Council have passed the resolution and must commit to be open and transparent to ALL taxpayers by providing a thorough costing for associated costs; as well as, all proposed future infrastructure commitments.
It is incumbent on the Mayor and Council to fully inform the taxpayers what the financial impacts are expected in the future from both sides.
What will the costs be to implement their promises associated to the resolution and, what projected costs might be should things be status quo.
Sadly, I must agree with Ray Vowels. The progression of the human race has been slowly destroying our beautiful earth. Over the past thousands of years it happened innocently. We have only become aware of what we have done in the last hundred or so years. As Ray said, all we can do is our personal best not to pollute. If all the countries of our world spent billions of dollars on global warming, they may be able to slightly slow down the process.
Sadly, that’s just the way it is.
About all I can say about this is I’m glad I’m old because I will never be able to pay the taxes govt will need to implement all these changes. My personal view is it will not do much to stop global warming just because that has been going on for at least 10.000 years at best if all governments world wide did all these things it might slow it down a bit. Not to many years ago it was a prediction that the arctic would be ice free by the year 2000. There is still a lot of ice up there. So lets stop pollution as much as we can and learn to live with global warming. It’s not going to stop.