The passing of the Climate Emergency Resolution in 2019 further supported the "Just Transition Plan" (JTP). This resolution prompted the expansion of JTP's focus to include broader equitable climate action for frontline communities most impacted by climate change, although the JTP already centered inclusive engagement and minimizing the impact of the energy transition. A Climate Action Recommendations Report (CARR) was created that included the concerns from diverse community members in the JTP committee and stakeholders in the Climate Action Taskforce. After the adoption of the CARR by City Council in 2020, the JTP Committee renamed themselves to the Equitable Climate Action Team (ECAT) and established new objectives on how to partner with the City in implementing equitable climate action.
Today, the Equitable Climate Action Team (ECAT) is a group of volunteer community members who assist City staff in implementing equitable climate action through community education, outreach and the evaluation of City programs.
Members of the Equitable Climate Action Team (ECAT) learned about the intersection of equity and sustainability through presentations and field trips focused on community cohesion and regenerative Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) practices that foster community resilience. ECAT’s membership diversified to achieve its goal to elevate voices most impacted by climate change. Other goals achieved from ECAT's three main tasks (Learn, Engage, Educate):
Volunteer members of ECAT learned more on the importance of their role in supporting local government and helped integrate clearer equity guidelines in their membership governing documents. To elevate communities who are often most impacted by climate change, the ECAT aims to center Frontline Communities when working on their 3 main tasks:
ECAT’s recommendations from 2020 were developed into a Climate Equity Checklist for City staff to review and a Climate Action Equity Discussion Guide that started to be used in 2021 as an equity analysis tool applied when reviewing new City programs to center the needs of Longmont's vulnerable communities. To see both documents please go to the Equitable Recommendations Report action item.
On October 8, 2019, Longmont City Council passed the Climate Emergency Resolution. This provided the opportunity to expand the focus of the just transition effort to equitable climate action. The final equitable climate action recommendations were created by a Just Transition Plan (JTP) Committee, as detailed in the JTP Committee Equity Recommendations section of the Climate Action Recommendations Report. This report was approved by City Council on December 8, 2020 after advisory board input and proposed staff modifications.
To learn about the current level of access to electrical energy services and programs, City staff reviewed national and local reports to identify potential lack of access to electric energy services and the interconnection between energy and community health and other basic needs. Next, the City distributed a bilingual survey to 562 residents and held ten listening sessions to better understand the needs of low-to-medium income residents. Four Environment & Us Workshops were held to increase awareness and understanding of the importance of integrating equity into environmental actions and policy, later that fall.
ECAT volunteer members learned how community unity & connectedness strengthens our resilience during natural disasters and other emergencies, while re-commiting to elevate voices from Frontline Communities that are most impacted by climate change. Other accomplished goals from ECAT's three main tasks (Learn, Engage, Educate) are: