The board will decide if it should be included in the Livable Frederick plan.
Frederick, Md (KM). Three words are raising a few concerns among some members of the Frederick County Council. The words are “climate change crisis,” and are part of a statement introduced by Councilman Kai Hagen for the proposed Livable Frederick plan.
“It is a crisis,” Hagen says. . “It is a global crisis. It affects everybody, everywhere. Frederick County is not an island that is somewhere separate and distinct from those concerns and the changes that they will bring in many different ways.”
He notes that many actions that are needed to combat climate change are contained in many parts of the proposed Livable Frederick plan, and performing tasks to protect the planet are well and good. But, Hagen says, the statement discussing the crisis surrounding climate change gives these actions some urgency. :”We think it’s important that we see it in that contact, and we have make the commitment to move with greater alacrity on some of these things,” he says.
“Some of those things” include building an infrastructure for electric cars, protecting forests and encouraging smart growth development which is less dependent on automobiles.
The statement Councilman Hagen wants to add to the Livable Frederick Plan is
“Our county has maintained the commitment to respond to our ongoing climate change crisis in a manner that reflects the magnitude of the threat to our community and our share of the responsibility for the problem. We have been resolute and innovative in our efforts to reduce our contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, to sequester carbon and to be adaptive and resilient in the face of the changes and challenges associated with our changing climate.”
Hagen says many citizens in Frederick County are concerned about the future of planet Earth. “We’re seeing a marked increase in the level of concern, of interest, of fear and motivation to do something about it by the general public,” he says.
The Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to add the “climate change crisis” to the Livable Frederick plan. Councilmen Steve McKay and Phil Dacey have raised some concerns. Dacey feels the word “crisis” implies an impending danger.
But Hagen says he believes the statement will pass as it’s written.. “I’m hopeful and somewhat confident that we’ll be able to include those two sentences as they are currently offered in an amendment to the vision for the environment in Livable Frederick,” he says.
By Kevin McManus