AUSTIN, Texas — This week, the Austin City Council is taking the next step towards a climate bond election.
The council approved a resolution for city staff to come back to councilmembers with two proposals: a climate investment plan along with the climate bond that would go in front of voters no later than 2026.
It’s something the majority of council had hoped would come this November.
"The longer we wait the higher the temperature goes," Councilmember Alison Alter said. "We have to take these actions and we cannot let planning, you know, perfection be the enemy of us actually addressing an issue that we've heard loud and clear from our community that they want addressed."
The funding could tackle a range of issues such as finding ways to reuse water, strengthening the power grid and helping Austinites become more sustainable in their everyday lives.
Right now, it is unclear which climate projects would be included in the proposal, but the approved resolution does include land acquisition. Concerns were raised over the decrease in money available for land acquisition.
"It is very disheartening to hear that we do not have funding available for land acquisition until 2027 at best," Councilmember Vanessa Fuentes said. "That is disappointing. Ultimately, I do think we've lost an opportunity here."
In 2021, the council adopted the Austin Climate Equity plan, which included a number of strategies that would help the city achieve net-zero community-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.