Public Comment Template

Public Comment Template

Email Subject: In order to make sure your comment is seen/heard, you should check the agenda or website that you are commenting on to see if they provide email subject instructions for public comments..
“I’m a concerned resident and on behalf of my community, I express our strong support for [subject] to move forward quickly, which would [briefly explain what the outcome of the “subject” will be].
In this case, an example of a “subject” would be: ordinances, laws, objectives, priorities, resolutions, regulations
[Brief 2 sentences about yourself and how the “subject” relates to you and your interests].
[Brief 2 sentences about how the issue at hand affects you and your community, and what action must be taken]
- The action that must be taken should be in bold/underlined and it should be the solution created by the “subject”
[4 sentences explaining in greater detail why this issue matters, the impact it is having, list statistics and data]
- You want to really emphasize why this issue cannot be ignored. You want the reader to understand the severity of the problem and how the “subject” is a primary solution.

[Does this issue cause other problems besides the primary issue that you mentioned earlier? If so, include another 2-4 sentences explaining the problem, why the issue is a source of that problem and how the subject can be a remedy]
[1-2 sentences summarizing how the “subject” is a solution]
I urge [this council or local representative name] to lead [region, county, city, etc.] towards a better path by [subject].

[Your name]
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Example

"I’m a Bay-Area resident and on behalf of my community, I express our strong support for these reach codes to move forward quickly, requiring all-electric new construction for homes and buildings and curtailing the number of exemptions granted.

I lived on the east coast until now so I’ve never been through a wildfire season before. I’ve been working on climate issues for a long time, so I knew that California’s warmer drier climate caused by our continued dependence on fossil fuels had exacerbated the risk of wildfires.

However, after having to live through it... fearing that my co-workers will lose their homes, being forced to buy air purifiers and wear a mask in order to just make it through the day, giving my family back east constant updates on the state of the fires because they fear for my life... I know that without a doubt CALIFORNIA IS IN A CLIMATE EMERGENCY. WE MUST STOP THROWING GAS ON THE FLAMES.

Millions are breathing in smoke and unhealthy air. At least 7 people are dead, 136,000 people have been evacuated, and more than 1,600 structures have been destroyed.

So far over 3 million acres have burned across the state. That is an annual record and we’re only in October.

We need to do anything we can to adapt and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions but allowing the development of new gas-dependent infrastructure will only make it harder for us to fully decarbonize. And science tells us that we need to fully decarbonize in order to protect our future and to keep things from getting even worse than they already are.

We also know that climate change will more deeply affect low-income individuals, so creating a blanket exemption for affordable housing units could have unintended negative impacts on equity & health. Forcing folks to live in gas-power units exposes them to higher levels of indoor air pollution, during emergencies it takes longer to get power back on to gas homes as opposed to electric homes, and most importantly as the price of renewable energy continues drop and fossil fuels become more expensive folks living in units with gas hook-ups will end up spending MORE of energy not less. Lastly,
all-electric homes are also cheaper to build so with smart planning we can actually increase the development of low-income housing .

So I urge this council to lead this city towards a more prosperous path and adopt a strong all-electric reach code with limited exceptions.