FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) – After hours of public testimony and debate, the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly adopted the revived Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP).
The final vote sparked elation among members of the Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition (FCAC), many of whom spoke at the meeting Thursday night.
“I smiled really big. I was really happy that it happened. I know it’s been so much hard work” FCAC Policy and Politics Fellow Bella Martinez said after the vote.
The plan lays out goals, priorities and possible methods for implementing community-level responses to climate change-related challenges — for instance, recommending the borough prioritize development on lands with minimum exposure to risks like flooding and permafrost thaw.
In June 2023, the previous assembly shot down an iteration of the plan, which was itself a revision of an earlier document.
A 2021 committee alongside $80,000 contractor RESPEC began drafting the plan, but …