Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Climate Legislation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Youth and community members urge Ashland council to support Climate Resilience Superfund at the state level
Summary
Multiple youth and community speakers during public forum urged the council to support a state Climate Resilience Superfund ("make polluters pay") to fund wildfire prevention and resilience, citing local wildfire trauma and proposed allocation rules for a state cost‑recovery fund. Speakers asked councilors to sign letters of support and meet with petitioners.
At the public forum, a string of local youth and community advocates urged Ashland’s council to support a Climate Resilience Superfund bill at the state level that would establish a cost‑recovery fund to pay for wildfire prevention and resilience.
Multiple speakers—including Zach, Ella Chadrock and Susie Garcia—described personal impacts from recent wildfires and framed the bill as a way to hold large fossil‑fuel companies accountable while directing funds to wildfire prevention and environmental‑justice communities. Susie Garcia outlined the proposed distribution in the model legislation she described: a state cost‑recovery fund separate from the treasury general fund, with 30% allocated to wildfire prevention and 40% to environmental justice communities; she also said the bill would enforce existing law at the state level. Speakers asked councilors to sign letters of support and to meet with petition organizers.
Council acknowledged the public comments; no formal council action was taken on the bill at this meeting, though several councilors indicated support for continued engagement with petitioners and interest in state‑level advocacy.
