Back in 2021 there was much ado about nothing made over yet another one of Aurora council’s performative environmental motions to view everything through a “Climate lens”.
A memorandum from Energy and Climate Change Analyst, re: incorporating a Climate lens into Town governance and operations can be found on the Agenda for the town’s Environmental Advisory Committee meeting of June 23 – 2021.
The agenda for the Sept 7th, 2021 meeting of this committee listed item 8.3 recommending that Climate change considerations be incorporated into staff reports starting January 2022.
The report PDS21-098 is found on page 81 and references 9 initiatives the Town is engaged in. There are 22 initiatives listed on the Town of Aurora’s website under Environment>Climate Change. Here are a few of them:
We’ve seen multiple examples this year that expose this effort as all talk and no action.
Most recently I wrote a post on the town’s failed drinking in parks pilot where the section on climate lens failed to accurately outline the environmental impact of those activities.
Back in the summer I wrote a post on how the town was turning a blind eye to pickleball users to run gas generators at a local park.
I’m not able to track down a staff report on pickleball that includes a clause on climate lens but I’m pretty sure if one exists it doesn’t acknowledge or condone the use of gas generators for this activity.
But I guess it was such a good idea that it was adopted and approved by staff because at the recent Christmas market there was not just one but multiple gas generators on site for that 3 day event:
This event was then repeated on a following weekend so another 3 days of running generators.
Obviously no one saw the irony behind green-lighting these greenhouse gas guzzlers and having the event sponsored by “Healthy Planet”:
Last year Manchester City Council took efforts to reduce their carbon footprint of their Christmas market by ensuring all electricity generated was powered by Biofuel rather than diesel generators. Did Aurora even investigate this as an option? If so was it presented to council for them to decide?
Town Park seems to be a poor location for this market, as pointed out in a previous post requiring the town to bring in a large cut tree.
So why is this market at town park?
Is there a staff report approved by council for the 2023 Christmas market that includes a section on Climate lens because I can’t find one. If there is where is it? If not, why not?
The last staff report regarding the town’s Christmas market that I can locate using the town’s abysmal website search function is five years old, regarding the market in 2018 : Report CMS19-010. You can clearly read in this report that the Market is to remain in its current location until construction is complete in Library Square:
So who and when was it decided that it would move to Town Park? Was this a staff decision or did a member of council direct staff to move the event?
Is there a report on this event issued after January 2022? If not, why not? If so, where is it and does it addresses the market through a climate lens as per council’s decision?
I guess getting things like that done aren’t as much as a priority as ensuring that our Mayor gets a selfie with a Frozen cosplayer.
“Let the emissions go, let them go.
Let the climate rage on.
Burning gas and coal never bothered me anyway!”
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