CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
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AN ORDINANCE amending Ordinance 126490, which adopted the 2022 Budget; changing appropriations to various departments and budget control levels, and from various funds in the Budget; in order to advance the Seattle Green New Deal by funding actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, funding climate-resilient community spaces, and investing in net-zero affordable housing; and ratifying and confirming certain prior acts.
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WHEREAS, climate change poses severe and growing threats to Seattle residents' health, safety, and livelihoods; and
WHEREAS, a February 2022 United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report states that temperature increases of 1.5 degrees Celsius in the near term would cause unavoidable increases in multiple climate hazards and present multiple risks to ecosystems and humans; and
WHEREAS, the 2022 IPCC report states, "Vulnerability of ecosystems and people to climate change differs substantially among and within regions ... driven by patterns of intersecting socioeconomic development, unsustainable ocean and land use, inequity, marginalization, historical and ongoing patterns of inequity such as colonialism, and governance"; and
WHEREAS, an inadequate response to climate change will increase the risk of economic and environmental disruptions, such as more severe storms, longer and hotter heat waves, worsening flood and drought cycles, growing invasive species and insect problems, accelerated species extinction rates, rising sea levels, increased wildfires, and an increase in environmental migration; and
WHEREAS, near-term actions that limit global warming to close to 1.5 degrees Celsius would substantially reduce projected losses and damages related to climate change in human systems and ecosystems; and
WHEREAS, Ordinance 125926 established the Green New Deal Oversight Board, provided compensation for those who incur a financial hardship ...
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