A Minneapolis City Council committee passed a resolution Monday to declare that “there is a climate emergency which demands a massive-scale mobilization to halt, reverse, and address its consequences.”
The four-page resolution was sponsored by Council Members Cam Gordon and Jeremy Schroeder, and passed out of the Public Health, Environment, Civil Rights, and Engagement Committee during a Monday afternoon meeting.
The resolution suggests that a “failure to mobilize and solve the climate emergency is antithetical to the spirit of the Declaration of Independence.”
“According to climate scientists, addressing the climate emergency will require an economically just and managed phase-out of the use of oil, gas, and coal to keep fossil fuels in the ground,” the resolution continues.
The resolution claims that minority communities, including those experiencing “inequity on the basis of gender and sexual orientation,” are often “in close proximity to environmental stressors or sources of pollution.”
It concludes by declaring that “global warming caused by human activities” has resulted in a “climate emergency that severely and urgently impacts the economic and social well-being, health and safety, and security of the city of Minneapolis.”
According to resolution, the climate emergency “demands a local, national, social, industrial, and economic mobilization of the resources and labor of the United States, the State of Minnesota, and the City of Minneapolis, at a massive scale to halt, reverse, mitigate, and prepare for the consequences of the climate emergency and to restore the climate for future generations.”
The resolution was passed out of committee the same day that Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order to establish a new “Climate Change Subcabinet.”
“Climate change threatens the very things that make Minnesota a great place to live – from our wonderful lakes to farmable land and clean air,” Walz said in a statement. “Building on the bold action our administration has taken already, this subcabinet will help put our state at the forefront of finding solutions to climate change. Together, we can tackle climate change, create good-paying jobs, and pioneer the clean energy economy.”
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News, The Ohio Star, and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
