Youth-led plan plots course to get Hamilton's carbon emissions to 'actual zero'

The authors of a youth-led plan to reduce Hamilton's dependence on fossil fuels are calling on city hall to clean up 122 abandoned oil and natural gas well sites in the municipality, create incentives for building low-emission homes and increase taxes on pipelines. 

The measures are among a slate of other changes the group is proposing, designed to bring the city's emissions down to zero.

Environment Hamilton (EH) released the Community Fossil Free Plan, written by Adan Amer, 23, and Adeola Egbeyemi, 22, on March 24. The project started as a collaboration between climate activists attending McMaster University and the Ward 3 office, and was later taken on by EH.

Amer and Egbeyemi say the document builds on the climate adaptation and mitigation plans Hamilton council approved last year, but puts more focus on the importance of eliminating carbon emissions and fossil fuel use.

City plans don't go far enough, the authors say, and theirs could help set a clear path toward a "fossil free future" – a step beyond net-zero emissions, which allows for continued emissions if they are offset by cuts elsewhere.

Egbeyemi, a project assistant at EH, puts it this way: while Hamilton's climate mitigation plan includes details on how to get to net zero, "We hope for ours to add onto that, and go further… to actual zero.

"I think we could get a lot of support from the community on this," she added, in a phone interview with CBC Hamilton.

Building code and tax changes needed, says report

The report focuses on several "fossil free transformation" areas.

Fossil fuel extraction: The report says there are 257 oil or natural gas wells within the area. Nearly 50 of those are active, all located in Glanbrook. The report says all well locations should be tracked and those not in use should be remediated.

Buildings: Residential and commercial buildings account for 14 per cent of Hamilton's greenhouse gas emissions, says the report. It proposes rapid expansion of electric heat sources such as heat pumps and geothermal energy. It also supports the development of green building standards, a project already underway in Hamilton, and says the city should lobby the province to update the Ontario Building Code to enshrine such standards.

Sustainable cooling: The average temperature in Hamilton increased 2 C between 1981 and 2010, and is likely to continue to rise. Many rental buildings are without cooling, which poses a health risk to tenants, but an environmental risk if they were to be cooled with fossil-fuel energy. The report proposes a maximum heat bylaw for rentals, and a program to support renewable retrofits.

Green bonds: The report suggests Hamilton follow other jurisdictions such as Ottawa in using bonds as a way to raise money for climate-related projects while providing stable interest and low risk to investors. The report also suggests developing a municipal carbon budget, which would measure and reduce annually the amount of emissions Hamilton produces, and help ensure new capital projects don't add undue emissions.

Pipelines: The report's authors urge council to increase taxes on pipelines that run through city property – a measure already being studied by city staff, thanks to their advocacy. Currently, pipelines have one of the lowest tax rates among the different types of assets the city taxes. The report would like this raised to be equivalent with heavy industry, and would also like pipeline information to be made publicly available.

Plan acts as 'fossil-fuel non-proliferation' agreement, says group

While international climate talks have struggled to secure commitments to end the use of fossil fuels, the International Energy Agency and the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have warned governments against investing in new fossil fuel projects if their intentions are to limit warming to safe levels and meet international targets.  

Those debates are happening here in Hamilton as well. McMaster University is currently building gas generators as a cost-savings tool; and ArcelorMittal Dofasco is hoping a new Enbridge pipeline will bring more natural gas to the steel plant to help it move away from coal. Both projects have seen resistance from those arguing against new fossil-fuel infrastructure.

The Community Fossil Free Plan's authors say they'd like their report to form the basis of a binding agreement on "fossil-fuel non-proliferation" – essentially an agreement to stop expanding the use of such fuels. They're leading a team that has been consulting with city staff to discuss the best ways to move forward on their proposals, and hope their collaborative process will mean a higher likelihood of success.

"We want to make sure this is a robust document where everybody feels they have had a say," said Amer.

"We've been facilitating an amazing team of students from McMaster who have been having those conversations [with city staff] about the feasibility of our plan, what can be done, if something is currently underway, or why hasn't something been done."

The pair plans to use what they learn to update the document later this spring.

'It's going to need the buy-in of everybody'

Ward 3 climate action community coordinator Kerry Le Clair, who has been working with the young people behind the project from the start, believes "everything in that plan is eminently achievable," as long as there is a groundswell of support from the community, and buy-in from city staff. 

She says a big part of the plan's strength is how closely its authors have worked with city staffers, so it's less likely to "fall flat."

"I've seen it a thousand times: City staff comes back… months later… with a staff report, and their response is they can't do it and there's a litany of reasons why it can't be done," said Le Clair, who says she is the first climate staffer to work for a Hamilton councillor.

"Will they rise to the occasion [of moving Hamilton away from fossil fuels] without community pressure? I don't know."

She praised the group behind the report, saying it's the first fossil-free plan she's aware of that was led by young people, and says it's time for the rest of the city to get on board.

"Whatever Hamilton's fossil-free future is going to look like, it's going to need the buy-in of everybody."