You can still have your voice heard!
Submit written comments via email to planning@cityoftacoma.org
no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, September 15!
Over the course of four and a half hours, the Planning Commission patiently listened to the testimony of nearly one hundred members of the public. (See more photos below.) Many more people were in attendance in the beginning, but the large auditorium was sparsely populated by the final comments that came in past 10 p.m. From our tally, roughly 65 spoke in favor of interim regulations and only some 15 against. That’s over 80% in favor of interim regulations!
Of those who spoke in favor, many emphasized the need to stop current fossil fuel facilities from expanding (an addition to the current draft) and passing the regulations swiftly. Highlighting the need for that was the recent news that US Oil has put in an application for expansion, hopefully because they’ve seen the writing on the wall: No more fossil fuels!
Interestingly, the Port of Tacoma General Counsel waited until the end to deliver threats of legal action against the City should the interim regulations be implemented. That doesn’t appear to coincide with their alleged commitment to the Paris Climate Accord.
So for now: Congratulations, Tacoma, on making your vision for a greener future heard!
But this is just the first step.
The Planning Commission must now finalize their recommendations and pass them on to the City Council. They may in turn call a public hearing or for a study so we need to keep the pressure on. Please take a moment to write to the City Council and ask them for their stance on interim regulations banning new fossil fuel projects and a ban on expansion for current facilities. Urge them to implement the interim regulations as swiftly as possible once they receive them from the Planning Commission.
Council Members Mello, Blocker and Ibsen are in favor or putting the interim regulations in place.
Mayor Marilyn Strickland, Marilyn.Strickland@ci.tacoma.wa.us
Council Member Anders Ibsen, anders.ibsen@cityoftacoma.org
Council Member Robert Thoms, robert.thoms@cityoftacoma.org
Council Member Keith Blocker, keith.blocker@cityoftacoma.org
Council Member Marty Campbell, marty.campbell@cityoftacoma.org
Council Member Joe Lonergan, joe.lonergan@cityoftacoma.org
Council Member Lauren Walker Lee, lauren.walkerlee@cityoftacoma.org
Council Member Conor McCarthy, conor.mccarthy@cityoftacoma.org
Council Member Ryan Mello, ryan.mello@cityoftacoma.org
