The FNSB Climate Action Plan is Being Dismantled In Real Time: a History of Climate Action in the FNSB and How to Help
A few months ago, the newly elected Presiding Officer of the Fairbanks North Star Borough suddenly dismissed and replaced the entire Assembly Climate Action Committee.
His efforts, and the efforts of some of the new committee members, appear to be to neuter the nearly complete proposed Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP).
Gone are emissions tracking and reduction, transportation and sidewalk maintenance, transitioning to (actual) clean energy, providing and maintaining electric vehicle charging stations, and more.
As a reminder, the CAAP is supposed to include goals and strategies to:
Reduce the borough’s contributions to climate change by lowering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and
Adapt borough operations to better prepare for climate change effects.
In other words, “the CAAP is focused on making Borough operations more sustainable and resilient in the face of a changing climate”.
A History of Climate Action in the FNSB
In 2007, the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly unanimously agreed to develop a plan for how to deal with climate change impacts and build local resilience.
They followed the process set out by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), which our municipality was a member of.
The Interior Issues Council Climate Change Task Force (IIC-CCTF), a group of public employees and citizens who wanted to educate people and take Borough-wide action to create a sustainable and climate-resilient community, led the effort.
They received support from the University of Alaska's Scenarios Network for Alaska Planning (SNAP) and the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy (ACCAP) to help them project changes and create an action plan.
The outcome of this process was the completion of the first two steps in the ICLEI Five Milestone process that we’re still following today:
• Milestone 1: Study and assess climate vulnerability in the FNSB
• Milestone 2: Set goals and prioritize
• Milestone 3: Develop an action plan (we’re doing this right now)
• Milestone 4: Implement action plan
• Milestone 5: Monitor efforts and re-evaluate action plan
Formation of the Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition (FCAC)
In November 2015, the Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition (FCAC) was formed by a diverse group of community members who recognized the need for our Borough to face the challenges of climate change together.
Inspired by moral, spiritual, and scientific calls for change, the FCAC aims to support the work being done in our community for climate action and build momentum for a fair transition to a new way of living that benefits both people and the environment.
Frustrated at the slow movement by our governing bodies, the FCAC began a campaign to lobby our Borough to embrace local solutions relating to climate change.
2019-2021: FNSB Joint Climate Change Task Force
In July 2019, after much pressure from our community, the Fairbanks North Star Borough adopted Resolution No. 2019-29, which created the FNSB Joint Climate Change Task Force (JCCTF).
The task force's main goal was to create a Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) for the Borough. It was made up of 17 members, including public employees, military representatives, and community members.
The JCCTF was responsible for securing grant funding to develop the plan, but was never able to find funding.
2021-Present: FNSB Assembly Climate Action Committee
On April 8, 2021, the Fairbanks North Star Borough adopted Ordinance No. 2020-20-1R, which got rid of the JCCTF and created a new group called the Assembly Climate Action Committee (ACAC).
The ACAC has the same job as the JCCTF did, which is to create a climate action plan for the Borough. The ACAC was given a budget of $79,700 to complete the task.
The Committee is made up of six volunteer members, including one FNSB Assembly member, five community members, and the mayor. They are working with a consultant planning team called RESPEC to guide the development of the CAAP. The entire committee was replaced by Aaron Lojewski in late 2022: Terry Chapin was later reinstated (though he remains almost always in the minority).
2022-2023: Development of the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan
The current effort to create a Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) for the FNSB builds on the work that began in 2007.
The CAAP is supposed to update the goals and targets set out in Milestone 2, set goals and prioritize, and develop an action plan for Milestone 3. The CAAP's implementation and future review are meant to follow the ICLEI Five Milestone process through steps four and five.
Why the history lesson?
The point of this background information is to stress the extensive, most-recent 15+ year history of climate action in our Borough. What the CAAP ends up including is important, because its scope represents nearly two decades of work and advocacy.
If the CAAP is not a strong document, further milestones in the ICLEI Five Milestone process are likewise watered down, and it could take another decade+ of concentrated work to get back on track.
How to Help
The Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition is running a letter writing campaign to raise awareness of the actions of the new Borough Climate Action Committee, among other efforts. You can sign up here and find out more information by emailing Emma or Tristan from FCAC.
I also recommend signing up for their email list, which you can find here.
Reminder: in the letters I urge you to write, testimony you give, etc., I’ve found that personal attacks are not very effective. I’m sure that the committee means well, even if they are, to put it mildly, bungling it.
You can share this post with friends and family, too. I don’t think enough people are talking about what the committee is doing: I hope a larger spotlight will help.