Leon commissioners declare 'climate emergency;' city touts 100% clean energy by 2050. (GANNETT/Tallahassee Democrat)

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Leon commissioners declare 'climate emergency;' city touts 100% clean energy by 2050

Elena Barrera

Tallahassee Democrat

After a near-miss hurricane and a long summer of record-breaking severe heat, Tallahassee's young environmentalists say now more than ever is the time to fight against climate change — and they now have local government's support.

In a 6 to 1 vote, Leon County commissioners endorsed a declaration stating the capital county is in "a climate emergency" and will continue to work with the GenCLEO advocacy group, a branch of the CLEO Institute, which advocates for climate action and policy.

"This climate emergency resolution that was passed is a huge, huge deal," said Samantha Kaddis, the 22-year-old Tallahassee regional manager for GenCLEO. "Leon County has now joined eight other municipalities in passing similar climate emergency declarations."

Kaddis said the resolution is there to help keep officials accountable for the current sustainability work they have undertaken.

The approved resolution calls on the county to reduce greenhouse gases, improve water quality, support the importance of native plants and the local food movement.

"I'm really excited that we're going to have further youth input in our sustainability summits and in our community stakeholder groups because they really are the group that will be most affected by this," Commissioner David O' Keefe said. "I think it's perspective that we need as much as possible."

Commissioner Brian Welch was the only commissioner to vote against the resolution. He told the Democrat he believes leaders have to be careful with what they declare as emergencies.

"I'm a local elected official. I'm not a national elected official," Welch said. "There's very little that we can do as a county to affect climate change on a global level, beyond what we're already doing."

He said he thinks crime and homelessness issues in the county are more appropriate to be declared as emergencies and that it's important to keep nationalized politics out of the local scene.

Although he didn't support the resolution, he said he was proud of the group's passionate advocating and the county's sustainability efforts.

The county coordinated closely with the young advocates, as their aspirations and visions match the county's sustainability program, according to county agenda documents. But one request in their resolution was denied.

In the initial proposal, the group asked commissioners to consider creating a youth advisory committee, according to county agenda documents. But the idea was squashed because "creation of a standalone youth advisory committee for ages 7-29 would detract from the collaboration already occurring with area stakeholders."

Currently, the county has an "Insights and Input" forum that holds monthly meetings to discuss the county's sustainability efforts and how to improve them. The county invited GenCLEO to participate in this forum's meetings instead of establishing a separate committee.