City of Ukiah seeking public comment on new Climate Action Plan

The Ukiah Climate Action Plan Ignores the Economic Reality of This Town

I am writing to express my deep concerns about the Ukiah Climate Action Plan (CAP) and how completely out of touch it is with the economic reality of this town.

I have been working and homeless for two years because I cannot afford rent, despite having a job. A one-bedroom apartment in Ukiah costs $1,500/month, yet a job that pays $21/hour only brings home about $3,300/month. After rent, utilities, insurance, food, and gas, what is left? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

And yet, instead of prioritizing the housing crisis or helping working people survive, you are pushing a costly, unrealistic climate plan that asks us to spend even more money on things like building electrification, electric cars, and public transit—things most of us cannot afford.

Who Is Paying for This?

Let’s be real: this CAP was written by people who own homes and have generational wealth protecting them from the economic disaster that the rest of us are experiencing.
• Sales tax revenue is declining. People aren’t spending money because they don’t have it.
• The cannabis industry crashed, and the wine industry is slowly dying.
• Small businesses are barely hanging on.
• People have drained their savings just to get by.

So how does the city plan to fund this CAP? Who is expected to pay for:
• Switching homes to all-electric? Homeowners? Renters? Small landlords?
• New EV charging stations? Who is even driving EVs in Ukiah?
• Fleet replacements and public transportation upgrades? With what money?
• Tree planting and green infrastructure? That’s nice, but will it house anyone?

If the answer is higher utility rates, tax increases, or development fees, then you’re just pushing more financial burden onto a population that is already drowning.

Priorities Are Completely Backward

Instead of focusing on sustainability projects that require enormous upfront investments, the city should be tackling the actual emergencies facing Ukiah:
1. Affordable housing solutions. People cannot afford to live here.
2. Immediate economic relief. Small businesses are closing, and the service industry is struggling.
3. Job growth in existing industries. The promise of “green jobs” is vague and not a current reality.
4. Crime and infrastructure. How about fixing what’s broken before forcing people into costly sustainability upgrades?

This Plan Will Hurt the People Who Can Least Afford It

The CAP assumes we can:
• Replace all our gas appliances with electric. Who is paying for that?
• Buy EVs instead of gas cars. That’s great for wealthy Bay Area transplants, but not for us.
• Rely on public transportation. Have you seen Ukiah? That’s not realistic.

These policies will hurt low- and middle-income residents the most, forcing them out of town while the privileged few get to pat themselves on the back for “progress.”

A Smarter, More Realistic Approach

If the city actually wants to help the community, it should:
• Use incentives instead of mandates. Give people the option, don’t force them.
• Focus on low-cost sustainability solutions that don’t create new financial burdens.
• Fix the economy and housing crisis first. None of this matters if no one can afford to stay here.

It is infuriating to see the city prioritize an expensive, long-term climate plan while people are homeless, jobless, and struggling to eat. If Ukiah doesn’t fix its economy first, then no one will even be here to benefit from whatever climate goals you’re trying to reach.

I strongly urge you to reconsider the financial impact of this plan and prioritize economic survival over costly sustainability mandates.

It’s about time so-called “leaders” grow up and accept the fact the Sun drives Earth’s climate, with natural events like volcanoes being the second-tier of climate influence. The January 2022 Hunga-Tonga underwater eruption, approximately 61 megatons, ejected more “greenhouse gases” (water vapor) into the atmosphere than mere humans can hope to even if they tried. It’s pure hubris to pretend we are “changing Earth’s climate.”

In short, there is no such thing as “manmade” (anthropogenic) “climate change.”

The People DO NOT WANT these “mitigation efforts” imposed on us. They are a monumental waste of public funds and they incur enormous costs on common folks, directly & indirectly.

So, please, just STOP.

Before wasting precious and often times limited tax dollars on so called “climate emergencies” and imposing more government restrictions on local communities, it would seem more fitting that we could find better us of these funds like housing shortages and high rents, people living under bridges and reducing crime. And in keeping with federal goals of reducing crime, government red tape legislation and reduction in taxation it is unlikely that any federal funding would be coming to support this type of project. Just one old lady’s opinion.