Declaration of a Climate Crisis and Budget Commitments for Action

11/5/21 Letter to the Arlington County Board:

The Arlington Tree Action Group (ATAG) strongly supports EcoAction and others urging you to declare a “climate change emergency.” We are fast approaching a climate crisis. We need you, our local leaders, to recognize the crisis and allocate added resources to address it. As the EcoAction letter to the Board states, “Put more bluntly, it feels like our house is burning down and no one is noticing.”

 Specifically, we support the following “critical investments” cited in the EcoAction letter:

• “Creating a Chief Sustainability Officer” with the responsibility of coordinating climate change responses including trees.

• “Providing significant funding to maintain, protect and expand Open Public Space as “natural capital.”

 In addition, we urge you to use part of the $20.5 million in unspent, unencumbered “closeout” funds from the 2020-2021 fiscal year to act immediately on:

• A comprehensive tree canopy/natural resources/ land cover study and associated analyses necessary to address these critical climate change issues.

• An additional forestry staff position to assure compliance with the Chesapeake Bay and Tree Ordinance by staff and builders throughout the development/redevelopment process.

 For many years, ATAG has encouraged the Board to make greater commitments to trees as other jurisdictions have done. We agree with EcoAction and others that “It is time for Arlington to join their ranks in becoming more proactive.” We look forward to working with the County in taking urgent steps on these critical issues.