San Ramon City Council: Declare a Climate Emergency
On September 9, 2020, if you looked into the sky from the San Ramon Valley, you wouldn't have seen the clear blue sky characteristic of late summer in Northern California. Instead, the air was choked by all consuming orange smoke from wildfires burning more than 100 miles away. In total, wildfires in California cost $12 billion and burned through 4 million acres–an area larger than the state of Connecticut–of land parched by years of drought. These fires were the exclamation point on years of increasingly visible signs that the climate crisis is no longer the problem of future generations. It's knocking on our front door.
It's time for San Ramon respond to the climate crisis at the scale it demands. By passing a climate emergency resolution, the city will, in writing, acknowledge the climate crisis and commit to pursuing decarbonization at the rate science demands. It will also form a Civilian Climate Commission, comprised of volunteer San Ramon Citizens, to serve as a conduit between the citizens of San Ramon and our elected leaders. The Civilian Climate Commission will, with input from residents, develop a Climate Emergency Framework that maps out the ways San Ramon can decarbonize while serving the needs of the city.
Friday Climate Strikes
Fridays for Future, is a youth-led and -organised global climate strike movement that started in August 2018, when 15-year-old Greta Thunberg began a school strike for climate. In the three weeks leading up to the Swedish election, she sat outside Swedish Parliament every school day, demanding urgent action on the climate crisis. She was tired of society’s unwillingness to see the climate crisis for what it is: a crisis.
To begin with, she was alone, but she was soon joined by others. On the 8th of September, Greta and her fellow school strikers decided to continue their strike until the Swedish policies provided a safe pathway well under 2° C, i.e. in line with the Paris agreement. They created the hashtag #FridaysForFuture, and encouraged other young people all over the world to join them. This marked the beginning of the global school strike for climate.
We strike every friday in solidarity with youth on strike around the world, calling for bold climate action. Meet us in front of San Ramon City Hall and Danville Public Library.
