11-20-2019 ECC MIN - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 The presentation was his own opinion and he does not claim to be a climate expert. Griner does not consider himself a “climate change denier” but felt the Iverson presentation presented issues in an extreme way and the issues are not as bad as they suggested. He feels that humans have little influence on the climate and that the earth’s climate changes naturally over many years. Griner stated that many credible scientists don’t believe the climate is facing a catastrophe. He does not feel that CO2 is a threat and not a poison that we should be concerned about. Griner stated that utilizing coal and carbon products does not make us bad people or morally wrong for utilizing available resources. He also discussed some specific topics from the presentation including the Polar Vortex and California wildfires and related them to his own experiences. Griner does not feel that solar and wind power can meet our current needs and technology for them is not a good option. He does not believe subsidies are beneficial for these industries. Griner feels the commission should focus on conservation, water, waste management and other local projects. There was very brief discussion after about how Griner’s personal beliefs fit into the goals and priorities of the Energy City Commission and specifically the Climate Smart Municipalities program. 5.3 Energy City programming/demonstration site ideas Looking forward to 2020, the commission discussed both demonstration sites and new programs to be included to expand Energy City. Demonstration sites include still working on the solar picnic table (a continued challenge), adding a wind turbine via a partnership with MMPA and possibly adding rain garden projects in the future. Energy City tours previously included GRE and members suggested other sites including GRE’s headquarters and Xcel’s facilities including one in Becker. The commission discussed past programing that had challenges including the High Five program that didn’t get much interest and Project Conserve that no longer has available staff to assist with. The group discussed doing a survey somehow to gauge what topics resident would be most interested in. The commission still feels that there is a general lack of awareness from the public about Energy City and the goals of the commission. Continued partnership with the city’s economic development department has been beneficial and Commissioner Lord attends some BR&E visits. The commission would like to begin monthly updates to the public from Energy City to be shared on the city’s various communication outlets. These monthly updates would highlight various aspects of the ECC’s goals not just limited to energy or conservation. This will also allow the various commission members to share information about their specific area of expertise as well. The group plans to collaborate on this with the assistance of the city’s communication department, more to come in the next months.