• The Lompoc City Council adopted a resolution at the Dec. 6 council meeting that formalized the certified results of the Nov. 8 Consolidated General Election in Lompoc. The new council was seated following the adoption of the resolution.
Mayor Bob Lingl has been elected to his second two-year term as mayor, while Jim Mosby and Jenelle Osborne have been elected to the City Council for a four-year term. Mosby was appointed to the council two years ago, while Osborne is new to the position.
Before Lingl, Mosby, and Osborne were sworn in by City Clerk Stacey Haddon, Lingl presented exiting Councilman DeWayne Holmdahl with a plaque and thanked him for his 16 cumulative years of service on the City Council.
Osborne, 49 years old, was born and raised in Texas but has lived in Lompoc since 2000. She has been a small-business owner since 2005, running an event planning and organizing service. Osborne holds a Bachelor of Science degree in history from Texas Woman’s University, where she graduated summa cum laude.
“I am honored to be the new voice on Lompoc City Council. In this role, I will focus on providing direction and policies that are in the best interest of all residents, businesses, and organizations,” Osborne said in a statement.
• Rallying thousands of scientists at one of the largest international gatherings of its kind Dec. 14, Gov. Jerry Brown called on the scientific community to mobilize for the climate fight.
“The time has never been more urgent or your work never more important. The climate is changing, temperatures are rising, oceans are becoming more acidified, habitats are under stress—the world is facing tremendous danger,” Brown told the American Geophysical Union’s annual fall meeting in San Francisco, according to a press release from his office. “It’ll be up to you as truth-tellers, truth seekers to mobilize all your efforts to fight back. We’ve got a lot of firepower. We’ve got the scientists, we’ve got the universities, we have the national labs, and we have the political clout and sophistication for the battle—and we will persevere. Have no doubt about that.
“We will pursue a path of collaboration and bold political advancement—whatever they do in Washington—and eventually the truth will prevail,” Brown continued. “This is not a battle of one day or one election. This is a long-term slog into the future and you are there, the foot soldiers of change and understanding and scientific collaboration.”
Brown’s remarks follow a Dec. 13 action to prevent further coastal oil and gas drilling, reduce ocean acidity, and boost renewable energy development in California. In recent weeks, Brown issued a joint release with the governors of Oregon and Washington and the premier of British Columbia reaffirming their commitment to climate action at the close of COP22. Brown also announced 29 new members to the Under2 Coalition, an international climate pact formed by California and Baden-Württemberg, Germany, among cities, states, and countries to limit the increase in global average temperature to below 2 degrees Celsius, the level of potentially catastrophic consequences. A total of 165 jurisdictions have now joined the coalition representing more than a billion people and $25.7 trillion in combined GDP—more than one-third of the global economy.
In September, California took action to advance its climate goals, establishing the most ambitious greenhouse gas emission reduction targets in North America and the nation’s toughest restrictions on destructive super pollutants. Brown also signed legislation that directs cap-and-trade funds to greenhouse gas reducing programs which benefit disadvantaged communities, support clean transportation, and protect natural ecosystems.
This article appears in Dec 22-29, 2016.