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Saskatoon city councillors aren’t jumping to conclusions about the nearly $19 billion price tag attached to a 30-year climate action plan released by city staff on Thursday.
The Low Emissions Community (LEC) Plan outlined 40 action items that could be undertaken by the city corporation and wider community over the short and long term to help reach an 80 per cent reduction in emissions by 2050.
It involves ideas such as converting the entire city fleet of vehicles, buses included, to electric models by 2030, as well as mandating all new homes and businesses to install solar panels during construction.
The report was constructed to align with then-Mayor Don Atchison’s signing of the international Covenant of Mayors agreement in 2015, which agreed to drastically reduce emissions on a municipal level over the next 30-plus years.
The LEC plan hasn’t been discussed or approved by city council yet. Each of the report’s 40 action items would be approved individually over the years by councillors.
650 CKOM reached out to all 10 city councillors and Mayor Charlie Clark on Friday to gather their reaction to the report.
The mayor’s office indicated Clark was unavailable for an interview, while four of the 10 councillors responded to requests for comment by time of publication.
Ward 8 Coun. Sarina Gersher said the community has been waiting for a “roadmap” to reducing carbon emissions for some time now, and she was glad to see the report come to light.
When asked about the nearly $19 billion cost associated with the four phases of the LEC plan, Gersher said that might be lower than the cost of not reducing emissions.
“The cost of inaction is actually more expensive,” she said. “I think that’s a big reality for us to have to process.”
She said the city needs to consider that not acting could mean less mitigation of climate change effects in the region, making for hotter, wetter and wilder weather in Saskatoon.
Ward 2 Coun. Hilary Gough told 650 CKOM she hadn’t read the complete report, but she’s been fielding questions from her constituents on what role the city would play in responding to climate change.
She said while the price tag for the LEC plan appears high, the report also outlines returns of up to $33 billion through lower carbon tax payments, electricity costs and reduced maintenance.
“There is a lot of opportunity in reducing emissions to save money by spending money,” she said.
Darren Hill, representative for Ward 1, was more hesitant about the report.
He said he supports initiatives to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions, but he needs to balance that environmental responsibility with a duty to protect the public purse.
“The citizens of Saskatoon can only pay for so much,” Hill said. “If we’re moving this forward, we’re going to have to look at other ways to fund it. Property taxes aren’t the only option.”
The LEC plan cites several funding options, including drawing from reserves or levying developers through “local improvement charges.” It also suggests selling “green” bonds on the capital markets to raise funds, or creating a “green revolving fund” that would use energy cost savings through efficiencies to pay for projects.
Ward 5 Coun. Randy Donauer did respond to 650 CKOM’s request for comment, but noted he had not read the report yet and would save his remarks until after he had done so.
