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As a former Ashland resident, climate change became all too real on September 8, 2020.

My mom was one of the volunteers helping people connect with their lost pets, or in many cases, recover their bones. A coworker lost her home in the Almeda Fire. After experiencing the devastating aftermath of the Labor Day 2020 fires, I began studying climate resilience to understand the actions our city can take to keep our loved ones safe from future climate-intensified crises.

With resilience as my core focus, I’m writing to voice my support for Ashland City Council to pass the youth-proposed Climate and Clean Air Policy Package.

I’ve spoken with business owners, documentarians, economists, national and regional policymakers, scientists, and even several Uber drivers to learn as much as I can about how different people are thinking about climate change and its impacts.

Though often viewed as purely an environmental issue, climate change is a threat multiplier for many more acute humanitarian crises, including the spread of malaria due to more favorable climates for mosquitoes; power grid strain and outages from extreme heat; and displacement of communities by severe weather events. For wildfire, studies suggest a close relationship between human-caused climate change, a legacy of fire suppression, fuel accumulation, and changes in land use, with each factor reinforcing wildfire risk.

We can mitigate climate change by making changes at the city level — through adapting our infrastructure, organizing community programs, and passing impactful policies.

The Climate and Clean Air Policy Package proposed by Ashland youth would place a limit on the amount of nitric oxide and nitric dioxide (NOx) emissions from home appliances in new residential construction. It would also revise the City’s contract with its gas supplier, Avista, to prevent new gas line installations along public streets and sidewalks.

In effect, this policy package would require new residential construction to use efficient electric appliances, with highly efficient heat pumps being one of the biggest wins for Ashland to meet its climate goals. These policies would allow more renters to take advantage of renewable energy programs like community solar to reduce their utility bills and give more renters the option to choose between gas and electric appliances based on what they feel is best for their living situation and health.

Importantly, the policy package does not apply to existing construction. At time of writing, a few community members have voiced concerns at City Council meetings, commenting that they don’t want their gas stoves to be at risk of regulation.

This is a fear I understand well as the son of a baker whose small business relied on a deep understanding of appliances — and knowing just where to place things to bake evenly. However, these comments are misleading — the proposed policies only apply to new residential construction, with a resolution to investigate additional policies that are subject to further discussion.

We can’t let misinformation get in the way of urgent and, frankly, renter and taxpayer-friendly policy. Avoiding further buildout of fossil fuel infrastructure will ensure we aren’t increasing our use of fossil fuels in the residential sector while working toward city and state climate targets in other areas. Otherwise, as we make progress, we risk the goalpost also moving — requiring more time and spending for our community to reach our climate targets.

Why build new gas lines when they will lock us into higher mitigation and adaptation costs down the line?

We need to get ahead of this, and we have the opportunity to do so at our local level. I urge the Ashland City Council to prioritize the Climate and Clean Air Policy Package on their agenda so that Ashland can finally make progress toward the climate goals it committed to in 2017.

As another hot and dry summer approaches, the City must do all it can to protect those who live here.