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Orozco, Norma From: Craig Preston <craigp4444@gmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2021 6:00 PM To: eComment Subject: Santa Ana: Pass a climate and public health emergency resolution Categories: Correspondence Dear Santa Ana City Council and Mayor Sarmiento, The Benjamin Franklin said "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". Climate change costs are going up exponentially. Prevention is in our hands and I say Let's Lower Emissions ASAP. We need to treat this like the emergency it is and put in place protections for all Santa Ana residents. The resolution brought forward by Councilmember Lopez is a good first step and roadmap for actions our community can take to resolve these pressing issues. Fossil fuels don't just exacerbate climate change, but also poison people. Study after study has shown that extracting, transporting, refining, and burning fossil fuels harms environmental and human health —and new evidence shows that toxic air pollution from fossil fuels also makes people more vulnerable to poor outcomes from COVID. We must phase out fossil fuels from our daily lives —whether it's gas stoves causing asthma, tailpipes blanketing our streets with smog, or gas stations poisoning water supplies and spreading cancerous chemicals like benzene. It's clear we must start moving to clean energy systems —and soon. Our community should be running on clean, renewable energy no later than 2030. But it's not just fossil fuels that are harming our community. Many neighborhoods in Santa Ana suffer from disproportionately high levels of lead in their soil, which can lead to serious developmental and health issues. The city must do more and protect our residents. Addressing these issues won't just improve our health, it will also improve our local economy. The Biden administration is investing money in green infrastructure buildout, and we need to make sure we have shovel ready jobs prepared. What's more, cleaning up environmental pollution and converting our energy systems are massive job opportunities that could bring family -wage jobs to thousands of people in Santa Ana. I'm writing to you today to ask you to please pass the climate and public health emergency resolution that calls for an end to fossil fuel expansion, clean renewable energy choices that save money, actions that will reduce lead and other environmental toxins in our neighborhoods, family -wage jobs, and an endorsement of the Fossil Fuel Non -Proliferation Treaty initiative. We can reduce pollution that is cooking the planet and poisoning our communities while improving the quality of life for every Santa Ana resident. I ASK YOU TO PASS this resolution and commit to taking local action to explore policies that stop fossil fuel expansion, speed up the clean energy transition, reduce local pollution, and empower our local community and economy. Thank you, Craig Preston, 92626