Ok, buckle up!! @RobNorrisSK' badly misleading take on the library has been bad enough, but the blatant lies here are way too much. I figured Norris would turn his attention here eventually but did not expect so many straight-up falsehoods. A thread. #yxe #yxecc

I’ve spent a lot of energy advocating for the LEC Plan, not because it’s a perfect plan but because it provides a framework for badly needed action. But that’s all that it really is – a framework laying out actions the city will *decide* on at various points in the years to come.

Norris’ statements are so misleading, and it’s not for lack of information. The plan itself is free to peruse on the city website, and yours truly even hosted two entire radio shows on the topic with some very smart friends (see one of them here: https://soundcloud.com/climatejusticesaskatoon/from-the-ground-up-ep-135-how-the-low-emissions-community-plan-will-save-you-money-20190904)

First, the city has literally committed to nothing at this point – it voted only to support the plan *in principle*, acknowledging the huge amount of work that city administration had put into this framework, based largely on consultations with community, business, etc.

Indeed, there is *broad* support for this plan. When Council was voting on whether or not to support (again, in principle) they received dozens of letters and heard from a long line of speakers, almost all of whom were in favour (16 of 17 IIRC, with 1 merely cautioning the pace).

I was at those meetings and was surprised to hear even corporate players like Nutrien (!) speaking in favour of it. Why? Because big corporations are increasingly under pressure from shareholders to take sustainability and climate actions seriously. They know it can't be ignored.

Next, the LECP is in no way, shape, or form, a carbon tax. This is directly out of the Sask Party playbook and it’s super disappointing to see in our civic politics, if not surprising given Norris’ ties to the party.

The plan, if anything, is about savings – saving energy and saving money. In that sense, it is actually a means of *mitigating* the burden of the federal carbon tax on Saskatoon. Strictly talking dollars, 31 out of 40 *potential* actions in the plan result in net savings.

You know what will actually be really costly for Saskatoon families? Ignoring all of this, failing to invest in energy efficiency, retrofits, electrification, etc., and just watching energy prices rise and rise in the years ahead.

Acting on climate change locally is a moral imperative, of that I am adamant. But it’s also clearly an economic imperative. Life comes at you fast and our energy landscape is going to look drastically different two decades from now.

Failing to prepare for that would be foolish.

And we could go on. But check out the actual plan and don’t fall for Rob’s insulting approach that relies on misinforming and fear-mongering. Again, it’s disappointing to see this in our civic politics, and I for one sure hope it doesn’t prove effective as it’s a slippery slope.

The actual plan is available here, fyi: https://www.saskatoon.ca/community-culture-heritage/environment/climate-change/low-emissions-saskatoons-mitigation-strategy

Rob can keep "his analysis." It's really unclear whether he's actually read the plan or not.