The Menlo Park City Council passed a powerful Climate Action Resolution last night. The full text is below. I would love to see
other cities take similar bold action. Well done, Menlo Park City Council and climate advocates!
RESOLUTION NO. 6493
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MENLO PARK
CALL TO CLIMATE AND SUSTAINABILITY ACTION IN MENLO PARK
WHEREAS, Menlo Park has a proud history of leadership on sustainability including adoption in
2013 of a community wide goal to reduce of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 27 percent
below 2005 levels by 2020; and adoption in 2017 of a vision for 100 percent renewable energy
powering the Menlo Park community by 2030; and
WHEREAS, there is consensus among the global scientific community that human activities have
warmed the Earth to a point that threatens climate stability, and climate change has already set
in motion catastrophic changes to the Earth’s systems, including fresh water scarcity and
droughts, floods, extreme weather events and increased heat, wildfires, accelerating ice mass
loss that will result in sea-level rise, and species extinction; and
WHEREAS, critical tipping points must be avoided, as they will have cascading feedback effects
that are predicted to cause an increasingly unstable climate that includes a devastating burden to
the global economy, and with current greenhouse gas (GHG) emission levels these tipping points
could be passed as soon as 2050; and
WHEREAS, in 2018, the 4th Annual National Climate Assessment and California’s 4th Climate
Change Assessment warned that extreme weather and climate-related events in the United
States are worsening, predicting increased drought cycles and heat waves in the western United
States with a resulting three-fold increase in intensity and magnitude of wildfires, declined water
supply and snow pack, increased flooding, impacted agriculture, as well as substantial damages
to the United States economy and human health, unless GHG emissions are curbed; and
WHEREAS, The 2018 Special Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) provides information on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre- industrial levels
and related global GHG emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response
to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty
(https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/); and the report finds that we must dramatically reduce GHG emissions
by 2030 through Rapid, Far Reaching, and Unprecedented measures; and
WHEREAS, Menlo Park is vulnerable to current and future climate impacts, such as increased
wildfires and associated air pollution, coastal flooding, drought, and more intense heat waves;
and
WHEREAS, many of the measures that address climate change by reducing carbon pollution also
build community resilience, save money, spark innovation, and increase equity to vulnerable
populations across our community, and improve our quality of life; and
WHEREAS, low-income communities, communities of color, the young, those with access and
functional needs, the elderly and indigenous communities have suffered the gravest
consequences of climate change, and remediation of these impacts requires the active
consultation and protection of vulnerable and historically exploited populations; and
WHEREAS, the open space surrounding and within Menlo Park, including the hillsides, baylands,
and parkland, offer beautiful places for residents to recreate, and protect the Menlo Park
community from flooding, filter our water, clean our air, and provide a whole host of other
ecosystem services free of charge to our residents each and every day; and
WHEREAS, common sense and morality indicate that humanity can no longer safely emit GHGs
and current levels and must demand an urgent effort to rapidly reach zero emissions across all
sectors to safely remove excess carbon from the atmosphere; to preserve and restore the Earth’s
biodiversity; to implement safety measures to protect all people and species from the
consequences of abrupt warming in the near-term; and to cultivate a shift toward climate resiliency
that prioritizes conservation, community, and independence from fossil fuels; and
WHEREAS, the urgency, and magnitude of the challenge of addressing climate change calls for
leadership in all sectors of society, all institutions and all elected leaders, including at the local
city and neighborhood level; and,
WHEREAS, The collective community of the City of Menlo Park has the insight, drive, ingenuity,
and capacity to work for environmental justice, and fully understand that when we work together
across social and city borders, we can build transformative networks to reduce climate change
and improve quality of life and prosperity across all communities; and,
WHEREAS, our action or inaction on these issues will be our legacy left to our children and future
generations,
LET IT THEREFORE BE RESOLVED THAT, the City of Menlo Park will adopt a new Climate
Action Plan goal to reduce GHG emissions; spur innovation and create jobs; and prepare for the
impacts of climate change on public health, infrastructure, the economy, ecosystems, and public
spaces in our community, that meets the urgency, scope, and scale outlined in
the IPCC’s Special Report, “Global Warming of 1.5 Degrees Celsius,”
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the City of Menlo Park commits to taking significant action to move
toward net municipal and community carbon neutrality in the short term, with maximum efforts to
implement carbon reduction actions by 2030; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the City of Menlo Park will engage with interested stakeholders
and experts to incorporate the most robust sustainability standards in our updates to our building
code, including the Downtown Specific Plan, and any updates to ConnectMenlo; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the City of Menlo Park will pursue efforts to ensure that all new
construction is built with Zero Carbon electric heating and appliances and pursue adoption of cost
effective title 24 Energy Reach Codes or a similar alternative; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the City of Menlo Park will partner with Peninsula Clean Energy,
San Mateo County Office of Sustainability, and other relevant agencies to explore and support
programs to assist home- and building-owners in upgrades that phase out fossil fuel use, including
natural gas; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the City of Menlo Park commits to providing outreach, information
and education for residents and City staff on the urgency of climate responses, reduction of GHG
emissions, the policies and strategies to advance sustainability and resilience; and to regularly
assess its GHG reduction goals, actions and policies and provide progress reports and metrics
annually; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the City of Menlo Park will explore city administrative review and
assessment processes to incorporate consideration of GHG reduction impacts/effects for all
significant proposed policies, programs or actions approved by City Council; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the City of Menlo Park recognizes community environmental
justice and commits to keeping the considerations of disadvantaged communities central to the
climate planning processes, and to invite and encourage these communities to directly advocate
for their specific needs and equity in the environmental justice process; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, The City of Menlo Park will advocate for implementing
transportation policies to eliminate GHG emissions, such as encouraging active transportation
(bicycling, walking and public transit) and moving toward completely electrified transportation
systems; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, The City of Menlo Park will discourage the use of toxic chemicals
among home owners and businesses, including pesticides; and shall consider a public reporting,
neighbor notification and disclosure requirement prior to outdoor application of pesticides, and
other toxic chemical uses; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the City of Menlo Park commits to protecting open space and
natural resources as a part of it's climate action and adaptation strategy.
I, Judi A. Herren, City Clerk of Menlo Park, do hereby certify that the above and foregoing City
Council resolution was duly and regularly passed and adopted at a meeting by said City Council
on the sixteenth day of April, 2019, by the following votes:
YES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Official Seal of said City
on this sixteenth day of April, 2019.
_________________________________
Judi A. Herren, City Clerk
Best Regards,
Bruce Karney
Chair, Carbon Free Mountain View
