By Brian Massie, Citizen Journalist
NOACA won’t let the ‘political football’ of climate change get in the way of seeking grants
- Updated: Apr. 07, 2023, 6:31 p.m.|
- Published: Apr. 07, 2023, 5:05 p.m.
By Peter Krouse, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The politics of climate change has been playing out over the past few months at the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency.
But one thing is certain, the regional board that funnels money to local transportation and environmental projects, doesn’t want to jeopardize its ability to obtain state and federal grants to improve air and water quality.
That point was made clear Friday as two NOACA board committees recommended that an Overall Work Plan & Budget – that includes a section called “Climate Action Planning” – go to the full board for approval in June.
“I would personally prefer an anti-pollution stance but I’m not going to vote against potentially millions of dollars coming into our community to make sure that Lake Erie is clean and that we breathe cleaner air,” said Lake County Commissioner John Plecnik, a member of NOACA’s finance and audit committee who doesn’t believe science is clear on pollution’s effect on climate.
“So, I’ll vote for this no matter what we name it,” Plecnik said, “but I want to say for the record I believe in God, not Captain Planet.”
The reason for Friday’s meeting can be traced back to February when NOACA’s finance and audit committee and its executive committee approved a draft of the organization’s work plan that included a section called “Regional Climate Action Plan/Program,” only to have staff change the wording before the work plan went to the full governing board in March.
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Categories: Lake County - General, Lake County Politics