Increased demands from environmental groups for the City of Austin’s proposed climate action plan are facing pushback for being too extreme, even from fellow environmentalists. The City of Austin’s chief sustainability officer Lucia Athens recently called out these ridiculous demands:
“If you really wanted to stop all carbon emissions you’d have to turn off all the lights and stay home. But that would be the discontinuation of life as we know it.”
The proposal would cost approximately $500,000 this year to meet net carbon emissions goals set in the plan, with plans to purchase carbon offsets annually. Despite being told the proposal would receive $2.5 million award from former liberal New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the city will not actually receive any funds from the award.
Austin has not been the only Texas city to push for a Bloomberg-backed plan. San Antonio recently announced a similar climate plan, which was also met with pushback for not being extreme enough from some environmentalists.
