Attend Council Session to protest budget cuts to climate initiatives!!!
Start: Tuesday, May 21, 2024•10:00 AM
URGENT: CALLING ON CONCERNED CITIZENS TO ATTEND TUESDAY'S COUNTY COUNCIL SESSION TO DEMAND FUNDING FOR PROMISED CLIMATE ACTION! The County Council declared a climate emergency in 2017 and subsequently developed one of the most ambitious climate plans in the nation for a local government. But on Thursday, May 16, the Montgomery County Council took a straw vote on the nearly final version of its FY 25 budget, stripping out key climate actions needed to reduce greenhouse gasses and help low income communities address the rising costs of severe weather in our region. This can not stand. The vote was done without transparency as we do not know who voted on these life saving policy changes. We can not let our County Council greenwash our futures into oblivion. Please attend the Tuesday, May 21st Council Session to protest the SIGNIFICANT defunding of multiple critical climate actions.
We need YOU, our 350MoCo members and community allies, to attend this council session and show the Council that you can not promise to take emergency climate action and then secretly vote to cut the necessary funding. Specifically, we need to fight for the funding of:
$345K to hire a solar program manager to expand solar energy programs
$275K for BEPS energy audits for under-resourced buildings
$200K for Energy Ambassadors for outreach to help low-income communities access IRA resources
$200K for technical support to expand community EV charging
Just $1M – which surely can be found in a $7 BILLION budget – would cover all the inexpensive, important climate change measures noted. Are we in a climate emergency or not?
