Ward 3 Candidates: Climate Change
Scott Fitzgerald
It’s going to take a full collaborative effort, federally, provincially, and municipally, but cities have a big part to play. By doing things like improving their public transit system and making it a real option for people who would like to make that environmentally friendly choice; increasing bike infrastructure; building and replacing infrastructure that can handle predicted future weather events, St. John’s could see real progress.
Increasing density is a great approach (like the Village Mall proposal in Ward 3) that the city can take to not expand our environmental footprint.
In short, we have to continue to use climate science data as a guide for everything that the city does. By making small incremental changes wherever we can, we will produce big results over the long term.
Walter Harding
First and foremost I have to state publicly the I believe climate change is real. There is more than enough evidence to support this statement and I’m ready , willing and able as Ward 3 Councillor to be a loud voice in support of aggressive and effective climate change legislation and policies to help us address the present and prepare for the future.
People ask me at the doors “ what can we do to address the worsening climate crisis “ and I think there are many ways to address it and prepare for the future as best as possible.
I think we should encourage everyone to avail of our public transportation options. More people in buses means less vehicles on the roads which means less emissions and less traffic congestion.
I think we should invest in adding low emission vehicles to our public transportation fleet and adding hybrid vehicles not only through our public transportation system but also in our entire city fleet of vehicles as well.
We should be encouraging all new builds be as energy efficient as possible and that building codes be bolstered to ensure as little damage as possible when we get our next serious weather events. Heavy equipment is needed for most repairs to buildings and infrastructure and they are heavy hitters when it comes to emissions. Let’s do our best to keep those machines idle. Reduce. Reuse. Repair.Recycle. I think this is self explanatory and will go a long way to helping us tackle waste and stressing our environment and our communities landfill systems.
Where we can we should be adding electric components to our city fleet of vehicles including mowers, automobiles, saws, maintenance equipment and more. There is no time like the present to adapt and improve our chances of protecting our future.
Save our wetlands! This is a crucial step in mitigation of climate change and impacts especially when it comes to mitigating flooding. I cringe when I hear about and read about the city possibly attacking our city wetlands. Horrible, horrible discussion and one that should cease immediately. There are so many cities around the World that have realized their terrible mistakes of removing and altering wetlands and are now spending billions of dollars trying to replace what they took away. We must not, will not and cannot touch our wetlands. On this there is absolutely no debate.
We must save as many trees as possible when developers bring forth their building proposals.
Trees clean our air, support birds who keep pest populations in check and absorb thousands of gallons of water to help mitigate flooding. Save our trees because they save us from a lot of grief.
We must continue to encourage people to use walking, cycling , and other activities to provide their mode of transport. We should do what we can to encourage and support the use of our many public parks and to limit the amount of pollution that comes with vehicle emissions.
This goes without saying but I’ll say it anyways. We need to reduce our emissions and reduce the negative impacts we have on the environment. It’s all our responsibility. Urban sprawl has a huge negative impact on climate change. We must look to grow up and not out. Vehicle use and emissions associated with urban sprawl and having to drive everywhere is only making the situation worse. Population density and mixed use neighborhoods should be not only considered but encouraged as we move in to the future. We have one of the lowest population densities in the country so there is sufficient room to grow in this area and will benefit us greatly heading in to the 2030s. Carbon and plastic waste reduction will assist us in fighting climate change and should be encouraged and supported. Plastic waste especially in our rivers and lakes contribute to the increase in temperature of the water which affects ecosystems and wildlife and holds many negative consequences.
We must make a renewed effort to use energy more efficiently and wisely and reduce the amount of heat we generate. A cooler city is a cleaner and healthier city.
We should try to consume less therefore waste less. There isn’t much elaboration required on this. Less waste benefits us on many levels.
We should push harder for residents to recycle more and provide less garbage. It’s cheaper to recycle, it provides for a healthier environment at our landfill and costs much less. If we could target a 5 per cent increase in the number of people who add recycling to their homes and businesses I think we will see immediate benefits from it.
We should divest from fossil fuels and choose renewable sources at every opportunity. The World has changed and we must change with it. Single use plastic products should be avoided at every opportunity. Heat generation from plastics and micro plastics can and will negatively affect our city , our environment and our climate. I could go on and on but I don’t want to take all your time today. There are some people who think that because we are a small city nothing we do will have any negligible positive impact on climate change and I must disagree with that. We must do our part as every little bit helps. What we do today will help us tomorrow and as we do our best to manage these climate changes and future weather events we have to support our farmers , adapt to the situation we have inherited, mitigate future impacts by education and research and development strategies and introduce policies that will give us the best chance of achieving success in addressing climate change.
Climate change is a real problem that has to be addressed by real community leaders.
Mark House
Climate change isn’t a distant problem—it’s affecting us right now. Flooding, storm surges, and changing weather patterns are putting stress on our infrastructure, and we need to be proactive. I would advocate for policies that prioritize climate resilience in all new construction projects and push for more sustainable transportation solutions, including expanded public transit and infrastructure for electric vehicles. It’s crucial that we weigh the upfront costs of these initiatives against the long-term savings in infrastructure maintenance and the environmental benefits. We need to act now to protect future generations.
Paul Morgan
When discussing climate change we must realize that it is a world wide crisis. Greenhouse gasses are negatively affecting social,
economic and ecological systems
● We have already noticed an increase in both land and sea temperatures
● These increases have led to more severe storms, a rise in sea levels and the increased melting of the polar ice caps
● Flood protection, infrastructure and building design and disaster management would help manage the impacts of climate change
● Actions to reduce emissions would include planting of trees, water and energy conservation, sustainable transportation and looking at
renewable energy
● The key to climate change is getting all stakeholders involved and education is pertinent
● The city of St. John’s should certainly lead this initiative in Newfoundland
● All the issues need to be addressed in dealing with climate change and prioritize certain policies will likely lead to more discussion
● Education and action is needed
Greg Noseworthy
[To Come]
