We warned you about it last week.
Today our City Council, under agenda item 18, voted to sign a four-year contract with AECOM Technical Services, Inc. of Chicago, paying them $1,239,235 to draft a Climate Action Plan.
Nicole Ferrini, who has a degree in architecture but somehow holds the title “Climate and Sustainability Officer,” is the 19th highest paid employee of the City of El Paso, earning $176,428.
She presented a PowerPoint in support of her proposals and spoke for 30 minutes, giddy with enthusiasm for all the policies she plans to implement.
But the most informative part of her presentation was her first sentence: “The Office of Climate and Sustainability has grown exponentially in the last year.”
And that pretty much sums it up.
Ferrini and her group of newly-empowered climate bureaucrats have been expanding their authority at a rapid pace, and their tentacles will soon reach into every corner of the City administration.
They plan to do everything, everywhere, all the time.
They plan to draft new policies for air, water and every form of pollution.
They even plan to “leverage our zoo.”
In her presentation, Ferrini indicated that her office will have purview over 5,587 square miles, including ten municipalities and two counties.
Rep. Kennedy asked whether City bond funds can be expended for projects outside the City limits. Ferrini responded that such is her “interpretation” of Proposition C.
Are you scared yet?
Passed by the voters with a mere 50.63% majority, Proposition C appeared on the ballot of November 8, 2022 as follows: “The issuance of $5,200,000 General Obligation Bonds for renewable energy and resource use efficiency improvements and planning and the imposition of a tax sufficient to pay the principal of and interest on the bonds.”
Of course the bond ordinance, which did not appear on the ballot, is far more expansive.
Ferrini emphatically insisted that if the City does not vote for item 18 and produce a preliminary climate strategy by April 1, we will miss out on up to $500,000,000 in federal climate grants.
You see, the massive expansion of government and imposition of onerous regulations are always urgent.
How much will Proposition C make a dent in the average global temperature of our planet?
Get out your thermometer and figure it out.