Climate and Energy Action Plan (CEAP)

APPENDIX B. OPEN HOU SE COMMENT CARDS Ashland Climate and Energy Action Plan: Baseline Public Input Summary Page | 25 Individual Comments Comment It is important to try as hard as possible to get a more diverse audience at an event as important as this event. Climate cha nge will harm the minority members of our community the most, so it's extremely important to engage them on these conversations. Th e large majority of attendees appeared to be elderly and white. Increase efficiency of energy use, increase renewable sources, vastly increase public transit, limit individual automotive us e, encourage decreased consumption of goods and faraway (illegible ) We need to take a very aggressive stance with this - even if it means we are setting goals that really move the needle - even if we don't yet know how to reach them. Promote large scale solar farms Promote more bike friendly activities including more bike parking and incentives to not drive in town Support and develop RUTD Involve Atts - promote bikes and carpooling only and not kids driving to school Ban large tractor -trailers in town Regarding hou sing developments - build affordable, small, energy efficient homes - wrangle more co -housing with good access to bus and bike routes. Electric shuttle buses and swacl [ illegible ] vehicle to transport tourists around town. Promote tourism without cars! I support actions - especially incentives for rooftop solar, energy efficient appliances, water conservation, and reduced car use - that Ashland can take to reduce our community carbon footprint. BUT - realistically, our actions will have a very limited ef fect on the climate change impacts we will experience. Therefore, our most urgent efforts should be to increase our community's resilience to the se impacts. The most severe impacts will likely be the linked issues and decreased snowpack/water availability and increased wildfire risk. Ashland has done as good a job as anywhere in fuels reduction in the watershed. However, it is my impression that we have done much less to prepare for reduced water supplies. The inter -tie to the Medford water system was an es sential, prudent action. But we need to consider if there are other ways to increase water storage and, of course, to STRONGLY encourage water conservation. One often -suggested option - greatly expanded rainfall capture in residential and commercial water tanks - reduces water flowing into streams, with serious negative ecological effects. Per -capita water use reduction will be essential, as well as policies directing water use to the most necessary uses. In short, reducing our community carbon footprint co stly, but enhanced resilience is life -and-death. Ashland should promote more (a) large scale solar installations, promote human powered transportation as much as possible. Le ss incentive to drive here. City must have a policy advocacy strategy as well as a "resilience" or "adaptation" strategy - advocate for in state and federal climate policy .