WCNC Charlotte, this is Flashpoint.
Thanks for joining us here on Flashpoint.
I'm Ben Thompson. This weekend,
we are celebrating the Earth here in
Charlotte and across the country.
Scientists largely agree
that carbon emissions,
from everything like cars to factories,
are contributing to global warming.
But there's an ongoing debate about the
most efficient way to keep our Earth clean.
Come up in a moment.
We'll hear from a climate expert
based right here in the Carolinas
about what needs to be done to
slow down our changing world.
But first, joining us now is the
Chief Sustainability Officer for
the city of Charlotte, Sarah Hazel.
Sarah, thanks for coming all.
We appreciate it.
Thanks for having me.
All right, So explain to us,
first of all,
what is your job?
I think you're the first person
to actually hold this,
this role at the city of Charlotte level.
What is it that you do?
Well, as the Chief Sustainability
and Resiliency Officer,
I am charged with focusing on how we
become a sustainable and resilient city.
And the main way that we do that is
by focusing on the implementation of
our Strategic Energy Action Plan,
which council unanimously adopted in 2018.
So we're really working to reduce our
impact on climate through lowering our
greenhouse gas emissions and and we
do that in a number of different ways.
All right. Let me ask sort of the,
the obvious question for the person at home
who might be struggling to make ends meet,
why is what you just said still
a priority for us as a society
and for them as a, say, a family?
I think that's a really great question.
So I mean when it really,
when we really think about it,
we can talk about the
science behind all of this,
but what we're really talking about
is clean air for people to breathe.
And a safe and healthy environment for
ourselves and for future generations.
So when you try to make it a
little more personal like that,
I think it it really puts a a finer point
on why this type of work is important.
And also all of this work is
really it's intersectional.
So actually last night City
Council allocated $1,000,000 to a
partnership with Duke Energy to.
Up fit homes,
both to make them safe with home
rehab but then to layer energy
efficiency work on top of that so
that we're lowering people's bills,
which helps people make ends meet,
but also reducing our impact on when it
comes to the environment by making sure.
That we don't need to burn as much energy,
that's carbon intensive.
So these things are not kind
of mutually exclusive.
They all intersect and they can help
people's bottom line in addition
to improving our environment.
You sort of mentioned it earlier,
the city working towards becoming
a low carbon city by 2050.
It's cutting down on everything from
gas emissions, planting more trees.
Put this in perspective,
how big of a task is that and what
needs to happen to make it a reality?
It's a huge task.
I I think cities not only in North
Carolina or across the US but really
across the globe are are working hard.
But this is a hugely ambitious undertaking
for us all and it really takes not just,
you know, a municipal approach,
but a whole of society approach,
private sector, public sector,
nonprofit research institutions.
And individuals to come together to,
to make it a reality.
So and there's certainly strategies
that are moving us towards that goal.
But I think the great thing is that while
cities are the places that typically
are most responsible for emissions,
right, we have the most people,
we have the most transportation going on,
things that can emit fossil fuel
and and carbon into the air, right.
But at the same time we're we are the
places where we can be most innovative
and and we can really move the needle.
So I think cities have a huge role to play.
We're not the only ones that have a role
to play and it's definitely not easy.
Part of this is also moving the city to
100% zero carbon fleet and facilities
by 20302030 is not that far away.
I mean we're talking seven years where
is the city on meeting those goals.
Yeah, it is. And you know,
when our City Council adopted those goals,
they knew that it was incredibly ambitious.
And so, you know, 2018, it's now
four or five years into our strategy.
We know a lot more now than we knew then.
You know, we see some electric vehicles
coming on the market that we couldn't
buy in 2018 and still we don't have
electric options for all of the vehicles
that we need to transition and so.
We don't know yet whether we're
going to hit those goals,
but I think what we do know is that
we have some really good strategies
in place and we're going to get
as far as possible because those
goals are incredibly ambitious.
Upgrading the city's fleet would
also include upgrading Cats buses.
It's been an ongoing controversy.
We we we we've sort of covered here.
It's an agency that's been
struggling recently to keep workers
and maintain buses and trains.
You're aware of some of the issues of Cats.
Where does upgrading the buses
though fall in that pecking order?
I mean that's your priority,
but is that necessarily going to
be Cats as priority right now?
You
know cats is focusing on core
services and probably one of the
biggest ways that we can reduce
our community wide emissions is by
getting more people out of their
single occupancy vehicles and into
other modes of transportation in fact.
The city has a strategic mobility
plan that has an aspirational goal
to do that by 2040 to shift to 50%
of people not traveling alone in
their single occupancy vehicle.
So whether it's an electric
bus or a hybrid bus,
getting people into buses and onto
transit or walking or biking or
other other modes is incredibly
important for hitting our goals so.
I think the foundational work
the Cats is doing right now is,
is really critical because whether
it's electric or not,
it's going to make a really big
difference towards reducing our
overall community emissions.
What do you think is the the
biggest sustainability challenge
the city is facing right now? Well,
you know and this isn't unique to
sustainability or or unique to Charlotte,
but there are certainly.
A lot of opportunities that that we
know are going to become possible,
but we're still facing things like supply
chain delays that make it harder to get
vehicles and including electric vehicles.
So we're needing to really work through that.
We're testing new technology,
you know cats has a 18 electric
bus pilot and we're we are in the
process of getting a electric fire
truck built for our fire department
and we'll be you know learning how
to use that new technology.
And so kind of the the timing of
the technology coming together and
piloting these efforts and some
of the real challenges that exist
today with supply chain I think.
That just it is something that we have
to keep figuring out how to navigate.
In your mind what is a a true green
city look like, say in 30 years.
So, you know from a municipal side of things,
if we are powering all of
our operations, our vehicles,
our buildings with zero carbon sources,
you know, you can imagine what
that will look like, right?
So what, not only will we have.
Solar and other types of renewable
energy on our properties which you
know we're working towards right
now we have once we see everything
constructed that's budgeted for,
we'll have over 25 solar panels
on municipal sites but that
really needs to be community wide.
So a real investment and
clean renewable energy,
a real focus on that as a as a community and.
People using options to get to where they
need to go that that are sustainable,
whether that's walking, biking,
taking a scooter, transportation.
We know Charlotte is growing and if
Charlotte's going to keep growing it and
we also know people are going to move here,
right.
So coastal cities,
we're going to see more and more
people moving to places that
that aren't coastal as we see
the impacts of of of climate.
Taking effect so it'll be a place where
people will want to come because it is.
It is a place that has focused on and
continues to focus on clean air and and
doing that in a way that's equitable
where it it doesn't matter you know
what part of the city you live in.
You have access to the same benefits
of of living in a healthy city.
Can you achieve all the goals
in the city, achieve its goals
without the necessary buy in.
From say state lawmakers in
Raleigh or is this whole plan
completely sustainable on itself
with city resources and and
no really need for state help.
So I mean I think I mentioned this
earlier on, but it really does
take an all of society approach,
you know at all levels of government
and and beyond government private sector
and nonprofits and individuals and so.
I think what I would say is that
I think everybody believes in in
clean air and clean water and safe
and healthy ways to get around.
And so, you know,
sometimes language I think can.
Can divide folks on some of the issues
that we're talking about today.
But when you get down to sort of
what we're trying to achieve,
I think that's something that
pretty much everybody can agree on.
So working on figuring out how
to get there together.
Obviously will, will,
will be really important.
That's
a great way to end the
interview on this Earth Day.
And I think an important message
that everybody needs to hear no
matter what sort of political
persuasion they they come from.
Thank you so much for coming on.
We appreciate it.
It was great being here and
thanks for having me. All
right, take care. More flashpoint after this.