RESOLUTION NO. 220442
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Declaring the City’s support of balanced energy options that achieve climate goals inclusive of natural gas and renewable natural gas strategies, its commitment to considering the inequities of higher energy costs upon marginalized communities and its opposition to legislation or policies that eliminate energy options for local energy consumers by mandating certain fuel sources or energy-specific technologies.
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WHEREAS, state legislatures, state agencies and local municipalities across the United States are increasingly proposing new legislation and regulations eliminating energy options for local energy consumers by mandating only certain energy sources to power buildings and public and private fleets as a strategy to achieve climate goals; and
WHEREAS, clean, affordable and reliable energy is crucial to the health, safety and well-being of Kansas City, Missouri, residents, particularly the most vulnerable who live on fixed and limited incomes, including seniors and working families who are struggling financially; and
WHEREAS, the need for clean, affordable and reliable energy to attract and retain businesses, create jobs and spur economic development is vital to our city’s success in a highly competitive and increasingly regional and global marketplace; and
WHEREAS, the City of Kansas City, Missouri, and its residents and businesses value energy options, policies and investments that most affordably and efficiently enable them to support local energy and climate goals and objectives; and
WHEREAS, the City opposes any mandate that eliminates energy options for local energy consumers as such policies suppress economic development and innovation, reduce reliability, disregard fiscal responsibility, impede energy efficiency and unnecessarily increase costs for residents and businesses; and
WHEREAS, this resolution supports the efforts of all industries within the energy sector that are working toward the goal of carbon neutrality via a balanced approach to meeting local and state environmental goals, and moreover, this resolution opposes legislation and policies that would eliminate energy options for local energy consumers with respect to building and vehicle energy resources and technologies; and
WHEREAS, the City understands that its social, environmental and economic resilience rely upon diverse energy options, and that relying on a single energy source increases vulnerabilities to climate change, natural disasters, system failures, global and domestic energy instability, and that a diversity of energy delivery systems and resources contribute to greater reliability and community resilience; and
WHEREAS, the City understands the need for sustainability and is committed to achieving its climate goals, but resolves to maintain the flexibility to do so in a manner that best serves the needs of its residents and businesses; and
WHEREAS, in the pursuit of an inclusive, equitable approach toward innovative, data driven and practical strategies to maximize the benefits obtained from all energy sources, including natural gas and renewable natural gas, the City will encourage the balanced use of all sources of energy to meet the energy needs of the city and to avert undesirable environmental and economic consequences of dependence on a single source of energy as the City pursues the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and other relevant climate protection and resiliency goals; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF KANSAS CITY:
That the City supports balanced energy options that provide the City, its residents, and its businesses with the decision-making authority and resources necessary to achieve climate goals inclusive of natural gas and renewable natural gas strategies, technologies and solutions; the City will duly consider the inequity of higher energy costs and emissions upon marginalized communities least able to withstand their impact; and the City opposes any legislation or policy that eliminates energy options for local energy consumers by mandating certain fuel sources or energy-specific technologies for the powering of buildings, fueling of vehicles or generation of power within the City.
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