Some Thorold councillors ran their election campaigns on a promise to tackle climate change — but not all of them are ready to take climate action.
Thorold City Council has decided to defer a decision on joining the Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) program, a network of more than 400 Canadian municipalities that provides a forum to share knowledge and experience on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Even though access to the program is free, some councillors worry there might be hidden costs.
“I believe personally that Thorold staff and residents try to do their best in regards to what we can do to mitigate climate damage,” said Councillor Carmen DeRose, during Tuesday's city council meeting. “There’s five milestones and I’m sure there’s a cost associated with them.”
The climate protection plan put forward by the PCP program has five different stages.
First, a participating municipality needs to create a baseline emissions inventory. Then, emission reduction targets are set, followed by the development of a local climate action plan. Finally, the plan is implemented and results are monitored.
A senior planner for the city, Meghan Birbeck, was present at Tuesday's city council meeting to explain the benefits of joining the program. Through the PCP, City Hall would gain access to a range of free tools that would help calculate greenhouse gas emissions.
“The only fee that would be involved would be staff time,” Birbeck told city council. “We actually get a substantial amount of free resources that would help us be able to do an in-house energy conservation and demand management plan.”
Birbeck explained that the plan needs to get done according to regional guidelines, so joining the program could actually be a cost saving measure for the city, but councillors weren’t convinced. They fear that a new staff member will need to be hired to put together the plan.
“At the bottom line it sounds as if there may be a position we may need to hire and I’m asking to defer it,” said Councillor Jim Handley. “There’s obviously going to be a cost associated with it.”
After a vote, city council decided to defer a decision on joining the PCP program until the 2023 budget deliberations.
