First, I want to thank all of you who have taken the time to read our draft Climate Action Plan. I want to give a special thanks to all of you who have sent us comments.
And I will address the comments on this blog as best we can. Today, I want to take on one of the most difficult.
Let me start by clarifying a couple of things -- the strategies in the CAP are high level and do not include the details of the implementation. As stated in the early part of the CAP, we intend to implement the policies over time in ways that are fair, equitable and as painless as possible, But, at the end of the day, we must work together to reduce our carbon footprint.
Our biggest challenge in getting to zero is our transportation emissions. One of many suggested strategies in the CAP is a proposed fee for owning cars that use fossil fuels.
Here’s the thinking. (1) The primary objective is come up with every possible way to help incentivize the needed transition away from fossil-fuel vehicles to zero-emission vehicles. 2) the fees generated would create a fund for incentives to help subsidize the transition. 3) We could design a strategy to exempt lower income people.
It's also true that technology is on our side. The prices for electric and hydrogen cars are coming down every year. Already, it is less expensive to buy and operate an electric car than to buy and operate a gas car. That trend will only accelerate in the future, and we are counting on that to help us all. Maybe, over the next ten years, we will have all moved to zero-emission vehicles voluntarily, and we won't need to do anything.
The Town of Fairfax has set a goal to get to zero emissions by 2030. The only way we will do it is every one of us gets rid of our gasoline cars over the next ten years. Actually, when you think about it, it is likely that all of the cars we have today will be replaced over the next ten years. If that is true, and if the various governments continue to offer incentives for moving to zero emission vehicles, and if the prices of them keep coming down, maybe we can all just decide that we will never again buy a gasoline car, and, together, we can get this done.
On the Climate Action Committee, we see it as our job to figure out what it will take to get us to zero. Getting us to zero means no gas cars at 2030. We also see it as our job to help people find good ways to get there, and we will do everything we can to make the latter possible.
This week, President Biden gave his first address to the Nation as President. In it, he quoted Franklin Roosevelt to the effect that each of us must do our part; none of us can assume that others will do the needed work. Indeed.
We have ten years, we have technology, we have a commitment to each other. Let’s find within ourselves the determination to figure out, and to do what needs to be done.
Thank you, and please join us. We need new members, new ideas; we need you.
And I will address the comments on this blog as best we can. Today, I want to take on one of the most difficult.
Let me start by clarifying a couple of things -- the strategies in the CAP are high level and do not include the details of the implementation. As stated in the early part of the CAP, we intend to implement the policies over time in ways that are fair, equitable and as painless as possible, But, at the end of the day, we must work together to reduce our carbon footprint.
Our biggest challenge in getting to zero is our transportation emissions. One of many suggested strategies in the CAP is a proposed fee for owning cars that use fossil fuels.
Here’s the thinking. (1) The primary objective is come up with every possible way to help incentivize the needed transition away from fossil-fuel vehicles to zero-emission vehicles. 2) the fees generated would create a fund for incentives to help subsidize the transition. 3) We could design a strategy to exempt lower income people.
It's also true that technology is on our side. The prices for electric and hydrogen cars are coming down every year. Already, it is less expensive to buy and operate an electric car than to buy and operate a gas car. That trend will only accelerate in the future, and we are counting on that to help us all. Maybe, over the next ten years, we will have all moved to zero-emission vehicles voluntarily, and we won't need to do anything.
The Town of Fairfax has set a goal to get to zero emissions by 2030. The only way we will do it is every one of us gets rid of our gasoline cars over the next ten years. Actually, when you think about it, it is likely that all of the cars we have today will be replaced over the next ten years. If that is true, and if the various governments continue to offer incentives for moving to zero emission vehicles, and if the prices of them keep coming down, maybe we can all just decide that we will never again buy a gasoline car, and, together, we can get this done.
On the Climate Action Committee, we see it as our job to figure out what it will take to get us to zero. Getting us to zero means no gas cars at 2030. We also see it as our job to help people find good ways to get there, and we will do everything we can to make the latter possible.
This week, President Biden gave his first address to the Nation as President. In it, he quoted Franklin Roosevelt to the effect that each of us must do our part; none of us can assume that others will do the needed work. Indeed.
We have ten years, we have technology, we have a commitment to each other. Let’s find within ourselves the determination to figure out, and to do what needs to be done.
Thank you, and please join us. We need new members, new ideas; we need you.
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