Finance and Audit
Committee Amendment
June 4, 2001
IN THE COUNTY LEGISLATURE OF JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI
Title
A RESOLUTION urging the President and the Congress of the United States to pursue policies and strategies that will promote energy conservation and invest in energy efficiency as the centerpiece of a new national energy policy for the United States, in order to assure a healthy, globally-competitive, and secure economy.
Intro
RESOLUTION 13683, April 30, 2001
INTRODUCED BY Victor E. Callahan, Bill Petrie, Fred Arbanas, Scott Burnett,
Ronald E. Finley, Dennis Waits, Dan Tarwater, Terry Young,
and Bob Spence, County Legislators
Body
WHEREAS, energy supply and energy prices are issues of great concern in the United States; and,
WHEREAS, the United States, the State of Missouri, and the Jackson County region are increasingly dependent on fossil fuels as principal sources of energy; and,
WHEREAS, the State of Missouri, and the Jackson County region are not energy producing regions, but instead are net energy importers, with literally billions of dollars flowing out of our state and local economies each year for energy; and,
WHEREAS, combustion of fossil fuels results in emission of greenhouse gases which contribute to global warming; and,
WHEREAS, combustion of fossil fuels results in ozone precursors and other harmful air emissions that have a detrimental impact on human health, and threaten the continued compliance of the Jackson County region with national ambient air quality standards established under the Clean Air Act; and,
WHEREAS, the United States is increasingly dependent on foreign sources for petroleum; and,
WHEREAS, such dependence is a potential threat to national security; and,
WHEREAS, development of new supplies of fossil fuels will likely require greater energy inputs for each additional unit of energy recovered, as well as significant actual and potential damage to natural ecosystems; and,
WHEREAS, renewable sources of energy, including solar, wind, biomass, and hydro, are sustainable, are becoming more cost competitive with fossil fuels, and are potentially widely available; and,
WHEREAS, energy conservation and energy efficiency are the most readily-available sources of new energy "supply, " are highly cost-effective, are available wherever energy is used, and are contributors to the local economy because they create jobs and reduce net economic outflows for energy; and,
WHEREAS, the benefits of energy conservation and energy efficiency can be achieved incrementally, can be realized immediately, and yield dividends continuously into the future; and,
WHEREAS, energy conservation and energy efficiency contribute to a strong, sustainable, and secure local and national economy; and,
WHEREAS, the Unites States Conference of Mayors has issued a statement calling for nationwide ten percent reduction in energy use to combat growing instability in energy supply and prices; and,
WHEREAS, the President and the Congress of the United States are formulating a new national energy policy; now therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the County Legislature of Jackson County, Missouri, that the County Executive and the Jackson County Legislature urge the President and the Congress of the United States to pursue policies and strategies that will promote energy conservation and invest in energy efficiency as the centerpiece of a new national energy policy for the United States, in order to assure a healthy, globally-competitive, and secure economy; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature urges the President and Congress to include in such policies and strategies increased regulation of gasoline prices, in anticipation of price increases during the peak summer travel period, as well as increased moral, political, and economic pressures on the nations of OPEC to cease and desist in their petroleum supply and price-fixing policies and to revert to a free-market system which benefits the entire world; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County Executive and the Jackson County Legislature support development of renewable energy sources as the preferred strategy for increasing energy supply; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County Executive and the Jackson County Legislature will redouble its own efforts to make Jackson County buildings and operations more energy efficient; and encourage energy efficiency through its codes and ordinances, through its policies, and through the tax and other incentive agreements that it enters into with private entities.
Enacted and Approved
Effective Date: This Resolution shall be effective immediately upon its passage by a majority of the Legislature.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
____________________________ ______________________________
County Counselor
Certificate of Passage
I hereby certify that the attached resolution, Resolution # 13683 of April 30, 2001 was duly passed on _____________June 4__________________, 2001 by the Jackson County Legislature. The votes thereon were as follows:
Yeas ________7_______ Nays _______1_______
Abstaining _____1______ Absent _____0_______
________________________ _________________________________
Date Mary Jo Brogoto, Clerk of Legislature