Cathy Cowan Becker speech at Columbus Climate Strike 9-20-19
Channel: Cathy Cowan Becker
Date: 22/09/2019

Speech by Cathy Cowan Becker, chair of Ready for 100 Columbus and Ready for 100 Ohio, at Columbus Climate Strike, September 20, 2019. Video by Becca Pollard, Sierra Club. Speaker not visible but audio is good after a couple of sentences. 

Transcript:

Good afternoon!  It is so inspiring to see all of you here, ready to strike for our planet.  As someone who has been active in the climate movement for the last several years, it feels as if the cavalry has arrived!

My name is Cathy Cowan Becker, and I lead the Ready for 100 campaign in Columbus and in Ohio. Our campaign is about solutions to the climate crisis. You can think of it as a local version of the Green New Deal. 

Ready for 100 is a campaign of the Sierra Club to ask cities to commit to 100% renewable energy. So far 133 cities have made this commitment, including Cleveland and Cincinnati, which was city #100. Seven states, 11 counties, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico have also committed. We have been asking Columbus to do the same, and this year we are also launching campaigns in Akron, Toledo, and Dayton!

Cities are responsible for 70% of carbon emissions, so if we can get cities to commit to 100% renewable energy, that right there will take a big bite out of climate change. And Columbus is the 14th largest city in the country -- so what we do matters. 

So what would a 100% renewable energy Columbus look like?

First, buildings would be energy efficient. Large commercial buildings and people’s homes would be retrofitted so they had efficient appliances, LED bulbs, and don’t leak heat. New buildings would be built to strict codes, maybe even net zero. Besides saving energy and reducing carbon emissions, that would also save everyone a lot of money!

Second, we would have renewable energy all over the city. City buildings would have solar panels. We would get solar panels over big box stores and parking lots. We would have bulk purchasing programs to help homeowners buy solar at a good price. We would have programs to get landlords to upgrade buildings with efficiency and solar. 

 
Third, we would decarbonize transportation. We would install charging stations all over town so people could drive electric vehicles. We would strengthen public transportation with Bus Rapid Transit and even light rail. Every street would have a sidewalk so people could walk places safely. Roads would be complete streets so people could bike. 

Fourth, we would green the energy supply. Ohio is lucky to have a program called aggregation, which is legal in only 8 states. In this program, cities can pool their customer base and use it to leverage 100% renewable energy at a good price from the utilities. It’s a way for communities to take control of their own energy supplies. 

Does this sound doable? Yes, it’s doable! The city of Columbus is already starting to do a lot of this. But we need them to go ahead and make the full commitment to 100% renewable energy. And for that we need your help.

Eve who spoke earlier and I have petitions asking the city of Columbus to commit to 100% renewable energy. I hope you will consider signing!  We need to show the city that we support them in making this commitment. 

Thank you for being here today, and thank you so much to the organizers of this amazing event. Please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and  please see me if you would like to sign our petition!