Peterborough’s new climate change action plan (CCAP 2.0) will be brought for approval to council early in 2025, probably in February. If enacted completely the plan will save the community over $900 million by the year 2050 as well as reducing our GHG footprint to less than half of what it is today. Think about it – that’s about $10,000 per resident. Imagine, $900,000 million dollars.
One of 4RG’s main projects for 2025 is to maximize the chance of getting funded approval for this plan and we have designed multiple actions to do this.
One is to increase public awareness and acceptance of the plan, especially of the cost savings and other local benefits. We believe that awareness of the savings will result in citizens putting political pressure on councillors to approve and fund the plan.
We are asking 4RG members to engage with councillors directly to ask them for their support for the plan. We will be meeting one on one with all councillors during January to discuss the benefits and importance of adopting and funding the recommendations of this plan. We encourage you, our members, to reach out to the councillors in your ward who represent you and to ask them to support this plan. A one on one meeting in their office is best, but a telephone call or a personal letter is nearly as good. A personal email works nearly as well. Every contact with a councillor will help.
To provide you with a starting point for a conversation or letter we have put together talking points on this page on the 4RG website. We encourage you to read them, to find some points that resonate with you, and to engage with the councillors from your ward who represent you in the way that you feel most comfortable with.
We also encourage you to talk about the benefits of the plan with your friends and neighbours.
If you feel up to it, a Letter to the Editor at the Examiner would help increase awareness. There are helpful guidelines and tips for doing this on this page.
We will hold a Phone Zap on March 27, the day the plan will be released to the public, to ramp up the pressure by calling all councillors during a short time period.
To increase awareness we have dedicated the January 13 4RG Meets event to a panel discussion with city staff on the contents of the plan. See details and register HERE.
There will be an opportunity to speak before council on April 7 when the plan comes up for a vote, but there are reasons to speak up in the interim to keep up the pressure.
This campaign is the best way to make a difference in our community to combat the effects of climate change by changes that will not only save the community money but also leave a livable world for our grandchildren with changes right here and now.
I’m very impressed by the important work 4RG is doing in support of the new Peterborough Action Plan. Public awareness of the plan – and of the quickly-worsening perils of global heating in general – is vitally important in order to get it enacted. It’s essential that citizens put political pressure on councillors to approve and fund the plan in its entirety. Please take time to do so by following up on at least one of the suggestions in the post above.