Although the Regional Plan 2045 was approved by voters, the City Council and Staff should appreciate that the Plan did not receive an overwhelming mandate from their constituents. Some points to consider: first, 43% voted no. Second, the opposition had no paid advertising to counter city-funded advertising. And third, special one-issue elections typically have a higher turnout of political activists than average voters.
One final point: in the May 20 Daily Sun article about the Regional Plan election, it was noted that the community organization Flagstaff First contends that “climate change is either not real, not caused by humans, or not worth considering.” This statement is incorrect. In fact, the organization has consistently asserted that the increase in atmospheric CO2 is overwhelmingly caused by China, India, and Russia (43% of the global total), not the U.S. (12%). Plus, the U.S. is trending downward while China, India, and Russia emissions climb steadily. In 2024 alone, China approved about 66.7 GW of new coal capacity. Those plants are coming online now.
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