It's real, deal with it
If you believe Global Warming is a conspiracy or "won't be that bad"? Go vote for another candidate.
Global Warming is real and reports like the IPCC are sugar coating it due to politics. Every single worst case eestimate in it we've blown straight through.
Does this mean Wellington can avert it alone? Of course not. Yet we must do our part to reduce our emissions.
Pretending that individuals acting alone can change this is madness. An individual does not smelt steel, refine oil, build a car, or create fossil fuel polymers by themselves. Our response must be at the same population level that got us here.
Treat it seriously
I would push for a council that treats Climate Change seriously and not just a throwaway vote.
I would have Council treat the emissions that result in the purchases it makes just as seriously as it would a purchase that had raw sewerage streaming down our streets. This could be contracts that require vendors to dispose of any waste generated, packaging included. We could provide incentives to beat independently assesed emissions targets, and penalties for going past some limit.
This is a topic that Amalgamation will make simipler by being able to have a single set of processes and regulations for the entire region instead of a half dozen that designers and builders have to deal with.
Buildings
Wellington City Council owns or controls many buildings and much land around the city. This is a massive resource for local power production that is currently untapped. I would push for Council to install solar panels wherever feasbile. This is an area that can be done in co-operation with local business. Providing leases that garuntee a certain length of time and responsiblities for the parties involved.
Another big change that must be pushed to help reduce our emissions is the creation of more mixed use developments. The shorter the distance people have to travel to reach services such as entertainment, gorceries, council, retail, etc. the less we will emit. It is more efficient for a handful of freight vehicles to move goods into a few areas than it is for every person to travel throughout Wellington to specialised mega stores. This would require efforts with local business to identify how council can help reduce the costs of shipping and delivery without direct subsidies.
I would push council to adopt a system of fees that incentivizes efficient building design and construction. The fewer pressures a development puts on the environment the bigger the benefit. Things that can be considered could be
- Reuse of local materials
- Transport emissions of materials used
- Creation emissions of materials used
- Power, water, and waste pressures on local infrastructure
- Incentivizing of active transport modes through secure storage
- Direct emissions from building services
These incentives could also be used by existing buildings and facilities to provide rates reductions or discounted fees.
Transport
The biggest thing that needs to change in the short term is how we treat transport within Wellington. I would push for changes in how we treat vehicles in the urban areas of Wellington. These will require work with central government to enable local councils the ability to make these choices.
- Congestion charging within the urban cores must be introduced. Funds raised through this will be ring fenced for infrastructure projects that reduce the need for individual motor vehicles.
- Introduce resident parking throughout the city. Vehicles will be charged on a scale that increases based on weight, dimensions, and energy source.
- Larger and heavier vehicles such as large SUVs and trucks have little place on urban roads.
- Exemptions or concessions should be provided for people who do need vehicles to get around Wellington until other methods have improved. Such groups could include
- Mobility impaired
- Shift workers
- Rural residents
- Public and active transport modes would be prioritized wherever they come into conflict with private motor vehicles. This will mean that for some, trips will take longer. If the overall energy use is reduced this impact will be acceptable.
There is an ongoing effort to electrify the Council's vehicle fleet but I think this can be done even better. I would push for council to adjust to focusing the council vehicle fleet on electric bikes. Such bikes will be cheaper to own but even more importantly operate as they use a fraction of the power needed by heavy vehicles. These electric bikes would not just be the two wheel variety we are used to but also cargo bikes of the two, three, and even four wheeled variety. Bikes also reduce the number of council staff that have to have a vehicle license. This is important as fewer and fewer people get such licenses, artifically reducing the pool of candidates the council can hire from.
In an emergency bikes are also able to move faster and reach further than cars often can. Speeding up the ability for council to organize and respond to such emergencies.
I would push for the adoption of a default speed limit of 30kph in urban areas. This will support more people to feel safe whilst cycling. And as more EVs are adopted there will be less pressure for higher speeds to reduce gas emissions. Lower speeds will also reduce the wear and tear on brakes and tires, reducing the particulate emissions from them.
I will push council to not fall for the wish that EVs are the panacea to solve our emissions problem. EVs are generally heavier than fossil fueled vehicles which puts even more wear and tear on our roads, but also more wear and tear on brakes and tires. Such dust is an emission that impacts our immediate environment more than any CO2 or NOX gas. Reducing those emissions will reduce how much we poison our waterways every time it rains.
Unlike humans it is hard to move large freight movements onto other modes. To reduce the impact of freight on climate change I would push for the adoption of freight corridors where private motor vehicles are discouraged from entering. Reducing the amount of times that trucks have to accelerate or decelerate will make an impact on our emissions. Even when moving to EV trucks there are still large amounts of brake and tire dust emissions.
Authorised by James Sullivan. James@TFG.nz