Email Correspondence: Motion on CCAS
An email from Ian D. Brown of the View Royal Climate Coalition urging support for a climate action motion and stricter disincentives for gas appliance installations.
From: margaret and Ian Brown Sent: September 6, 2022 10:50 AM To: Mayor And Council Email mayorandcouncil@viewroyal.ca Subject: Motion on CCAS
Dear Mayor and Councillors
We write to ask you to support the motion by Councillor Lemon on today's agenda. The motion is intended to correct a serious fault in the Community Climate Action Plan as it appears on the Town website in a 2022 pdf. The section 3.1.1 on Page 52 is far too weak and risks exactly what we presumed the section was intended to prevent. There seems to be no use at all for this section except to prevent builders and developers, as soon as possible, from installing gas appliances in new buildings, especially from installing new gas furnaces. Of course we cannot just add this to the building code, a provincial responsibility. But we need the strongest disincentive possible, Step 5, a coercion to convince builders to use heat pumps or other forms of electric heating. Given that any new gas furnace will be spewing out greenhouse gas emissions, about a tonne a year, for about 25 years, surely we do not want to be responsible for this addition to global warming. We urge you to make a bylaw that immediately requires Step 5 for all new buildings with a backing off to Step 3 if the builder will guarantee no gas installations in the building.
Sincerely
Ian D. Brown, View Royal Climate Coalition