Mayoral candidate Greg Brockhouse is taking direct aim at one of the centerpieces of Mayor Ron Nirenberg's first term, his aggressive plan to fight climate change, saying it would shut down some of the city's largest employers, including Valero, NuStar, Boeing and Toyota, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Brockhouse says he would disband the 'study committees' which are working on ways to achieve Nirenberg's controversial 'zero carbon emissions by 2050' plan, in exchange for common sense, business friendly ways to fight global warming.
They woudl include leading an effort in the first 90 days of a Brockhouse Administration to 'commit to plant 10,000 trees.' He cited studies that 'overwhelmingly show that increasing our tree canopy helps clean the air and reduce ground temperatures as much as 2.6 degrees Fahrenheit.'
He says he supports expansion of renewable energy programs such as community solar projects, and he would expand programs by CPS Energy and SAWS to expand incdentives that encourage conservation.
As a man of faith and as a father, protecting our environment is important to me,” said Brockhouse. “More importantly it is important to our quality of life and our economy, but we cannot get there by shutting down some of our largest employers like Valero, NuStar, Boeing, and Toyota. Instead we need to partner with these San Antonio companies and other good corporate citizens like HEB and USAA, as well as the military to do things that science has already proven works.”
Brockhouse said Nirenberg's climate change blueprint would 'kill more than 20,000 local jobs if enacted.'
"That's why he keeps delaying the vote. We don't need to reinvent the wheel. We need to take advantage of the billions of dollars in research others have paid for and see which programs make sense for San Antonio. The energy sector puts a lot of groceries on a lot of tables and pays a ton in school taxes and city taxes. Let's partner with them, not shut them down."