On Thursday, the FNSB Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly will take up the Climate Action Plan — the same plan that was rejected 9-0 by last year’s assembly.
The plan represents a major shift in how policy is undertaken in the borough, placing the health of the ecosystem over the needs of residents, and will become the guiding principle of the policy if it is adopted.
The document blames wildfires on climate change, rather than mismanagement of forest assets.
The document blames the lack of fish on climate change, rather than trawler by-catch, particularly in area M.
It places “scientific consensus,” over actual science.
It calls for reducing carbon fuels (coal, natural gas, fossil fuels) in one of the harshest environments for humans in North America.
The plan calls for policy solutions that have nothing to do with climate change, and abrogates the power of the people in favor of activist organizations.
It calls for hiring at least two new positions and diverts staff time to activities based on climate change.
You can read more about the plan at this link.
The public may testify by phone or in person. Please call ahead of time to get your testimony number 907-459-1401
The plan is largely work guided by Assemblywoman Mindy O’Neal, who is the executive director of the Cold Climate Research Center. As the executive director, she directly benefits from this management plan, as her salary is directly tied to the viability of the center. O’Neal has a financial interest in this plan passing. The CCRC is mentioned several times in the document as a “community partner.” Critics have asked why she is using her Assembly seat to further her own goals and securing her “seat at the table” once her term is up next year.
The plan claims to be a community driven plan, but critics ask, “what community?” Less than 1% of the population of the borough had an opportunity to become aware of this plan. The plan’s promotion was largely confined to the City of Fairbanks and the University area, while two-thirds of the borough’s population lives outside the city of Fairbanks and did not have an opportunity to even be aware of the plan. Most of the borough has poor internet access and many areas like Salcha, Fox, and Two Rivers have limited access.
The plan calls for climate issues to be the governing concept in planning, platting, roads, trails, and other areas where the borough undertakes planning. Trails will be governed by the ecosystem, land use will be governed by the ecosystem, roads will be governed by the ecosystem-land use and zoning by the ecosystem, and the ramifications of this policy shift is enormous.
Instead of government by the people and for the people, it becomes government for the environment and government cronies.
Other examples include:
In appendix C p. 14, the Climate Action Plan calls for consolidation of Road Service Areas because it is “more efficient.” There appears to be no justification or support for demonstrating that consolidating Road Service Areas has any impact on the climate.
The plan calls for monitoring and collecting data Green House Gases by sector. Thus, the business will be monitored as well as homeowners. This seems quite intrusive and is way beyond the powers of a second-class borough. This is simply to violate the privacy of every borough resident.
On page 19 of Appendix C, the plan calls for “greater collaboration” with Community Based Organizations, such as the one that O’Neal runs. “Partnering” is code for “taking over the function.” In other words, environmental NGOs will take over borough functions. This means elected borough government will no longer be in charge of policy, because policy will be driven by these community-based organizations.
In Appendix C page 24, the plan calls for encouraging denser economic development to reduce vehicle emissions. Critics say that people don’t move to Alaska to live in a city like Hong Kong. They came to have their “spread” of the woods and live in a particular lifestyle. This spreads out PM 2.5 and other emissions, and stops concentrated emissions. But the Climate Action Plan states that the new development goal of the FNSB is to encourage urban density- which would presumably halt any development outside the urban core of Fairbanks and limit the amount of land a person could own.
Under this plan (p 61), each subdivision will have only through streets; all streets will be through streets. If the recent road plan testimony was instructive, residents who live in some areas were clear that having through streets would erode the integrity of their neighborhood; several hours of testimony on this issue made it clear that neighborhood integrity is valued by residents. If all subdivisions have to have a secondary egress, whose home is going to be razed to make that policy?
Then there is the push for electric vehicles that is in the plan. The belief is that using coal or a diesel generator to generate electricity to charge a car is more efficient than a gas engine. Most of the fire stations are not equipped to deal with a fire from an electric car.
