‘I want these solutions now’: Young Kansas City leaders rally for action on climate
Growing up in her southeast Kansas City neighborhood, Mahreen Ansari remembers neighbors walking miles to the grocery store.
Their area didn’t have enough grocery stores or quality public transportation or even adequate sidewalks, so her mom would give the neighbors a ride.
At 8 years old, she was frustrated. She wanted a solution.
On Wednesday, Ansari, now 22 years old, joined around 70 leaders of local advocacy groups outside City Hall to call for just that: for the Kansas City Council to pass the Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan.
“I am tired of seeing the way that things can be improved for Kansas Citians and I’m tired of seeing nothing done about it,” Ansari said. “I want these solutions now, not sometime in the future.”
Her group, Sunrise Movement KC, was joined by Stand Up KC and KC Tenants outside City Hall on Wednesday to demonstrate for the city plan.
Part of that plan addresses improving public transportation and access to food. It also focuses on Kansas City’s energy supply, building efficiency and waste.
The plan, which has been in the works for months, is expected to be introduced to the council as a resolution in July, city spokesman Chris Hernandez said.
Sunrise Movement KC, the local chapter of a national youth-led environmental action organization, held a People’s Climate Town Hall in April, with leaders calling for a stronger plan that protects those most impacted by climate change.
That helped get the plan to where it is now.
The draft plan is described as an “equity-centered roadmap to help our community achieve our greenhouse gas emission reduction goals and adapt to flooding, extreme heat, and other climate change impacts we are already facing.”
On Wednesday, Sunrise leaders led the crowd in chants of “We are unstoppable; a better world is possible”, and “What do we want? Climate justice. When do we want it? Now.”
The rally opened with 17-year-old Alex Teasley, who said that the climate plan is just the beginning, not the end, of climate legislation in Kansas City.
Teasley said the edits made to the plan since it was first presented to the public in March represent the voice of the people, “and deserve to be respected above Evergy and Spire’s attempts to cement our reliance on fossil fuels.”
Evergy and Spire are the two largest private utility companies in Kansas City. Both sent statements in April mostly opposing the draft plan, claiming natural gas and coal have benefits.
Near the end of the rally, 26-year-old Michael Wolfe shared that dealing with wildfires when he lived in California exacerbated his asthma.
Now home in Kansas City, Wolfe pointed to last year’s rolling blackouts, Kansas wildfires and record-breaking temperatures on Christmas Eve as just a few examples of why the plan matters.
“These edits aren’t too much,” Wolfe said. “They are the bare minimum. We are out here to let them know we are watching.”
He then led the crowd in a rendition of the folk song “Light Is Returning,” tweaked for Kansas City: “KC is out here, demanding climate action now.”
Ansari said she feels confident in the community’s ability to make change happen.
“Community power is super important, and it feels really good to see that on a Wednesday people are gonna show up because they care about this,” Ansari said.
After the rally, the crowd — including several young kids — took to sidewalk chalk to leave the message behind.
Hernandez said the Climate Protection Steering Committee will review the plan. City staff will also ask for the committee’s formal endorsement of it, Hernandez said. There aren’t exact dates yet for those, but Hernandez said they should be finalized soon.
Kansas City has taken steps to reduce its emissions.
From 2005 to 2019, Kansas City reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 26% for city work and by 24% community wide — the result of the city’s first Climate Protection Plan, which began development in 2006.
In 2020, the city began updating its climate plan with the goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2040.
The public comment period for the draft plan has ended. If you haven’t shared your thoughts on it yet though, there’s still time: The plan will eventually go before a council committee, which will take additional public comment then.
Here’s what’s in the plan:
Mobility:
Reduce vehicle miles traveled through coordinated and planned development
Shift trips to bicycling and walking by expanding a network of safe and accessible routes
Shift trips to transit by building convenient transit systems and mobility hubs
Reduce vehicle emissions from idling by reducing congestion and improving parking management
Reduce vehicle emissions through low- and no-emission vehicles
Energy supply
Use more renewable energy in the utility grid
Expand neighborhood and commercial renewable energy generation
Improve grid stability and resilience
Purchase utility-scale renewable energy
Natural systems
Use natural systems to manage storm water runoff
Promote regenerative, ecologically healthy soils and landscapes
Sustainable water supply and use
Expand network of trees and natural areas
Homes and buildings
Increase efficiency and health for commercial and public buildings
Improve the efficiency, affordability and durability of homes
Ensure climate-ready, efficient construction
Transition building systems to use clean, reliable electricity
Food
Increase production of local food
Improve healthy and sustainable food access
Waste and materials
Divert waste from the landfill and reduce illegal dumping
Divert organic waste from the landfill through composting
Reduce waste by expanding the reuse and repair economy
Earlier on Wednesday, the Neighborhood Planning and Development Committee took public testimony on an ordinance that would tighten Kansas City’s energy codes to help reach the city’s climate goals.
The new codes would make new developments more energy efficient.
Kansas City currently operates under the 2012 International Energy Conservation Code. The updated codes, published in 2021, propose further changes for new residential and commercial buildings.
That legislation will be heard again in committee on June 29.
