HomeMy WebLinkAbout9/3/2019 Item 18, Azriel (2)
From:Eric Azriel <
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Change in energy code and carbon offset requirement
Dear City Council,
I am writing regarding tonight's agenda item 18: "AN ORDINANCE APPROVING LOCAL AMENDMENTS TO THE ENERGY
CODE; AND AN ORDINANCE IMPLEMENTING A CARBON OFFSET REQUIREMENT WITH AN IN-LIEU FEE OPTION"
Unfortunately, with how long the meeting was running tonight, I was not able to speak in person. I want to relay three
things.
(1) I absolutely support moving to 100% electric buildings on renewable energy sources. We must reduce our emissions;
we are in an existential crisis and I thank you for your leadership in this crucial area.
(2) As we move to electric, I am quite concerned about the impact on those earning less than the median wage. If home
prices increase, or rents increase, or the monthly utility bills increase, these are the folks who will be most impacted. My
own experience is that electric bills are higher than natural gas bills for the same purposes (e.g. cooking and heating cost
more with electric per month). Most often these are the people who will be renting and impacted less by the capital
improvement of new appliances or electric hookups and impacted more by the monthly utility bill.
Please ensure that these hard-working people who are already paid less are remembered and helped to succeed as we
transition away from fossil fuels.
(3) This move will threaten and eventually eliminate the livelihood of many people. Please can we create job training
and assistance programs for these professionals? Professionals like Marsha, who today inspected my furnace and told
me what I needed to do before I could safely run it. People who are good at their jobs and who take pride in their work.
Big businesses and small will be affected and I do not doubt that in the ensuing decades they will be out of business
altogether here in San Luis Obispo.
This change is going to be very hard and while we must transition away from natural gas that doesn't reduce the
financial and emotional human cost. We need to support them.
Once again, thank you for your leadership on this matter. These are exactly the conversations and issues we need to be
addressing.
Sincerely,
Eric Azriel
Eric Azriel
Graduate Student | City & Regional Planning
California Polytechnic State University
(805) 305-9284 | eazriel@gmail.com or
eazriel@calpoly.edu
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