Letter to the Editor: Environmental Amendment to the Shoreline Comprehensive Plan

To the Editor:

After a year long process, the Shoreline City Council is about to decide which of the the 2019 proposed amendments will be adopted into the Comprehensive Plan. I have proposed Amendment #2 which addresses the City’s global warming and greenhouse gas emissions targets.

Current emission reduction targets set earlier this decade, based on the best science at the time, sought to limit global warming as a result of greenhouse gas emissions to 2 degrees C. above pre-industrial levels. Current analysis is that the City is not on target to meet their 2020 emissions target.

The most recent scientific consensus included in the 2015 Paris Accords and more recent special reports is that the world needs to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees C. above preindustrial levels to avoid devastating damages to human health, economic and food security and irreversible changes to natural ecosystems. Incorporating this parameter into the comprehensive plan would guide future policies and priorities for our city. The world is just starting to see the first serious effects of a warming planet. It is time for citizens and governments to accept their responsibility to leave a healthy planet for future generations.

The Council will be reviewing the amendment proposals at 7:00 pm December 2, 2019. The final vote will take place December 9, 2019. Both meetings will take place in the council chambers. I invite all concerned Shoreline residents join me there.

Lee Keim
Shoreline