Petition urges city commit to ‘going green’

LACONIA — The City Council has been asked by a group of petitioners to enact policies to protect residents from the negative effects of global warming.

A committee of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Laconia presented the petition to the council in memory of David Bownes, a church member and leader who also served as a city councilor.

Bownes died in July at age 71 after having been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

“David, an ardent supporter of controlling climate change actively worked with our UUSL Green Sanctuary Committee to draft this Green Laconia petition, which calls upon elected officials to enact policies to protect the citizens of Laconia from the costs, negative health effects and social impacts of climate change,” said Roger Andrews, co-chairman of the committee, as he read from the petition during Monday’s remote council meeting.

The petition requests the city:

• Improve energy efficiency of city-owned buildings.

• Obtain electricity from renewable resources.

• Reduce the number of fossil-fuel powered vehicles in the city’s fleet.

• Encourage tree planting programs.

• Advocate for environmental goals to be incorporated in the redevelopment of the former Laconia State School complex.

• Form a special committee to advance the goals of the program.

Among the goals suggested in the petition are that the city be procuring all of its electricity from renewable resources by 2030, and that all city vehicles would be non-fossil-fuel-powered by 2040.

“Establishing a time frame encouraging a positive step toward making a difference is critical,” Anderson said, adding that the goals should be viewed as targets and not mandates.

The council took no action on the petition, but voted unanimously to create a subcommittee to draw up a set of criteria the council should consider before taking a position on an issue brought to the council by petition.

Mayor Andrew Hosmer said he was willing to start a special panel to consider global-warming issues raised in the petition.

Councilor Bob Hamel noted the city is already taking steps to reduce its energy consumption. He said energy efficiency technology is being incorporated in building renovation projects, including the Colonial Theatre, and that the city has moved to more efficient and less-costly street lights.

He further noted that the city has for many years encouraged Arbor Day tree planting programs.

Tree planting is seen as one way of reducing the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. As trees grow, they help stop climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the air, storing carbon in the trees and soil, and releasing oxygen into the atmosphere.