Ashland City Council Holds Vote on Young People’s Ask for a Climate Action Ordinance

CONTACT:
Bella Mannray, 11th Grade, Ashland Youth Climate Action, bellamannray@gmail.com, 541-622-5711
Allie Rosenbluth, Community Organizer, Rogue Climate, allie@rogueclimate.org, 703-298-3639
WHO:
Ashland Youth Climate Action (AYCA) is a group of high school and middle school students from Ashland,
Oregon working to benefit our community and protect the future of the earth by addressing the global
problem of climate change. The group, supported by Rogue Climate, has played an integral role in
advocating for a science-based and socially equitable Climate and Energy Action Plan (CEAP) by sitting on
the city’s ad hoc committee, leading community outreach projects, testifying at city council meetings, and
introducing the Climate Action Ordinance.
WHAT:
On Tuesday, September 5th the Ashland City Council will convene to vote on a Climate Action Ordinance.
The Ordinance, will put the Clean Energy Action plan into law. The plan, unanimously passed in March,
works to decrease climate pollution, and provides strategies for Ashland to transition to clean energy, with
an overall goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the city by 8% each year. 29 Ashland businesses,
including the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, have endorsed the Climate Action Ordinance.
WHEN: Tuesday, September 5
6:30-7:00pm: Youth Rally and interviews outside City Council Chambers
7:00-10:00pm: Ashland City Council Meeting (Agenda TBD)
WHERE: Ashland City Council Chambers (1175 E Main Street, Ashland)
WHY:
If Ashland adopts the science-based Climate Action Ordinance, it would become a national leader
on climate action and in passing meaningful laws to protect young people and future generations.
Join the AYCA and residents of Ashland to show strong support for Climate Action as the City Council
votes on the Climate Action ordinance to affirm Ashland’s role as a national leader on local climate action.
The ordinance creates accountability to the CEAP and facilitates public participation and input into the
city’s climate actions. Some of the outcomes of the CEAP include supporting better public transit and
ridesharing, expanding community recycling and composting, transitioning to clean energy, supporting
energy efficiency, and preparing the community for the impacts of climate change.
“If we passed the ordinance and the Climate and Energy Action Plan, we will be on the leading edge of
climate action in the US! I am so proud to be a part of the climate justice movement and to live in a town
that is taking my future so seriously,” says Nikolas Lindauer, a recent Ashland high school graduate.