Committee on the Environment

With our political landscape shifting, the shared responsibility of meeting important climate goals will be impacted. This is not the time to feel sorry for ourselves but a time to change our mind set and to buy time. As we enter the next four years, aspects of our work will not be easy. But we must remind ourselves that we have been through this before. We know what works and what does not. We are organized and our movement is strong.

In this spirit, I look back to my own experiences from 2016 to 2020 and events happening where I live in Kansas City, Missouri. During this time, advocacy efforts shifted to local and regional climate action and there was a lot of forward motion:

• 2017 – Women’s March in Kansas City had 10,000 people
• 2018 – First gathering of various stakeholders including bi-state, bi-partisan politicians to address climate change, which provided the groundwork for Climate Action KC
• 2019 – Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas signed the “We Are Still In” pledge, US Conference of Mayors Resolution 86
• 2019 – Climate Action KC awarded funding from Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy to support in-depth Emissions Inventory and climate Risk & Vulnerability Assessment
• 2019 – KC Climate Strike
• 2019 – Kansas City hosts its first Climate Action Summit with keynote speaker Paul Hawken to speak about Drawdown
• 2019 – Local advocacy work through the Energy-Efficient Codes Coalition for more pro-efficiency votes for the 2021 energy code
• 2019 – Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN) provides grants for advocates to attend ICC Convention in Las Vegas to testify for pro-efficiency measures in the upcoming IECC 2021 organized by New Buildings Institute, Energy Efficient Codes Coalition, ACEE, and Institute for Market Transformation.
• 2020 – Climate Action KC develops Regional Climate Action Plan in collaboration with the Mid-America Regional Council
• 2020 – Advocacy coalition formed to lobby Kansas City to adopt upcoming IECC 2021 and options Zero Code with no weaking amendments (which is eventually passed in 2022)
• 2020 – Evergy (regional energy company) begins offering bulk solar power to private companies to support transition to clean energy
• 2020 – Kansas City begins updating their  Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan

For some, this might be cold comfort. But I prefer to remember the incredible camaraderie in my community and progress we made during this time. Despite living in a blue county in a red state, we were able to advance policy to drive impactful change. This time around, we must not delay.

As Arathi P. Gowda, AIA, mentioned in the previous COTE Advocacy Update, we continue to advance AIA’s public policies and position statements, including the belief that “Architects are Environmentally Responsible.” In fact, infrastructure is being put in place for ‘flash actions’ and community building. It is more important than ever to organize, build collectives, contribute to initiatives, and take bold action at the local and regional levels. Remember that being a part of the AIA COTE community, with groups across the country that represent thousands of jurisdictions, is one way you can have impact. If you are interested in being part of the COTE Advocacy Group and Network or just want to share feedback, please do not hesitate to reach out via cote@aia.org. Onward!

Photo by: Joyce Raybuck, 2017 Kansas City Climate Strike

Joyce Raybuck, AIA, LEED AP is a Principal at BNIM in Kansas City. With two decades of experience, she is a collaborative design leader who produces research informed, human-centered projects from concept through construction. Her background includes national and international experience on innovative projects in higher education, embassy design, workplace and urban development. Joyce currently serves on the COTE Leadership Group.