Honorable Mayor, Councilmembers, and City Staff,

On behalf of the 350 Silicon Valley Menlo Park Climate Team, we are asking the City to prioritize and accelerate climate action. All around the world and right here in Menlo Park, we are living in a time of mega weather events. While it can be terribly painful to acknowledge the realities of human-caused climate change, it’s imperative to do so in order to address the issue. A challenge like climate change can paralyze action because it is so large and all encompassing. When a problem is this daunting, it can be advantageous to break it down into smaller pieces and address each piece on its own in the context of the bigger issue. We are asking the City to do its part, which will lead and inspire other communities to do the same.

The City has adopted a thoughtful and straight-forward Climate Action Plan (CAP) that would put us on the path to be net-zero by 2030. We are asking the City to put the policies and programs into place that will allow it to reach the goals outlined in the CAP. This must happen now. We know from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that every newly installed fossil fuel powered device will take us that much farther over the two degrees Celsius threshold that we are advised to stay below in order to minimize climate instability.

The Menlo Park Climate Team and Menlo Spark have created, and to date have gathered 110 signatures of support, a petition, “A Healthy Climate Starts at Home: Electrify Menlo Park Homes and Buildings an Equitable & Healthy Future,” that calls for an electrification ordinance requiring electric or zero emissions models to be installed when any gas appliance is replaced in existing homes and buildings, effective January 1, 2024. The products and financial incentives are available today to make this ordinance feasible and equitable. The co-benefits of electrification, which include better indoor and outdoor air quality contributing to improved health for all, resiliency, and energy efficiency should be highlighted as well. While the team crafted the petition with equity in mind and with off-ramps for economic hardship and technical infeasibility, we acknowledge that this is a starting point, and to truly further equity and environmental justice, the conversation needs to involve and uplift the voices of everyone in our community. In parallel with the development of such an ordinance, we emphasize the importance for outreach and education, and we are more than happy to collaborate with the City towards these efforts.

As the old adage goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This is truer more than ever as it relates to climate change. The more we invest in mitigation and adaptation now, the less hardship we will bring upon ourselves and our communities, particularly those who are disproportionately affected and may have fewer resources to deal with these hardships.

We thank the City for the bold steps it has taken to acknowledge and address our collective climate emergency, and we urge you to do more, and with a greater sense of urgency, , in a way that includes and lifts up the voices of everyone in our community.

John McKenna and Linh Dan Do, on behalf of the 350 Silicon Valley Menlo Park Climate Team

Sincerely,

John McKenna
Menlo Park, CA
(650) 776-8548