CLALLAM COUNTY – Clallam County Commissioners are making progress in implementing the Climate Change Resolution they adopted in June of last year.
Commissioner Mark Ozias’ concept of a Climate Change Week has taken hold, and they’ve now set the target dates to coincide with Earth Day on Monday, April 22 through Friday the 26TH.
Climate Change Week will be something like a traveling show of guests, discussions and presentations throughout the county, though the list of presenters and other specifics haven’t yet been nailed down. Subjects would be aimed at addressing potential local impacts of climate change, such as the increased likelihood of storm surge and coastal flooding, low snowpack, major fires, and ocean acidification.
Ozias says another important element of Climate Change Week will be community engagement and input, which would involve inviting people with diverse views to come together in structured discussion sessions. The commissioners have settled on a discussion model, suggested by commissioner Bill Peach, known as a Jefferson Dinner, a format that Thomas Jefferson was said to have hosted in his own home.
Ozias says the Jefferson Dinners would likely not take place during Climate Change Week, but will probably be scheduled immediately following those events.
The Commissioners and interim County Administrator Rich Sill will now do some additional research and fact gathering before they regroup in a month or so.