Tim Lauer (tlauer.ca)

Climate change is still the number one issue on the planet. Increasing forest fires, ice storms, flooding are constant reminders that something is amiss. Orillia has a climate action plan. It has two components. One component is a City of Orillia Corporate plan that is in full effect and will see a significant reduction in our carbon footprint by the next decade. It is doable and easy to monitor. The second component however involves the community at large and is more problematic. This component depends on education and community buy in and results are much harder to monitor or quantify. To date -and especially this last year – I believe we are losing focus. The new Council needs to bite off something they can actually chew; take some time to evaluate where we are in regard to the community carbon footprint, make a decision as to where Orillia should be in 4 years (Council’s term) and set up a process to monitor yearly progress.