Eric Bunch
KC’s Climate Candidate
City Council 4th In-District
Fighting climate change was certainly at the top of my mind when I co-founded BikeWalkKC in 2011. Knowing that transportation accounts for nearly 25% of Kansas City’s greenhouse gas emissions, I felt I had to take a bigger role in advocating for investments to improve walking, biking, and public transit. Even though we have made major strides, a lot more work remains.
Now I am running to be KCMO’s next 4th in-district council person because I believe the future depends on climate action now. I hope you’ll join me in this fight! Here is my climate protection platform:
Expand Public Transit
I'll work with partners across the region on a metro-wide transit funding mechanism in order to get more jobs and necessities accessible by Ride KC. Additionally we have to do better to solve the first and last mile problem by investing in better sidewalks and co-locating electric bike share, and scooters. This is an issue I have direct experience with: I co-founded the city’s only public bike share system that now operates in partnership with Ride KC.
Plan for Our Future
I have already led an effort to create bicycle master plan and created a road map for upgrades to the city’s walkability. Not only should we work to implement those plans, we should ensure that every planning effort the City undergoes establishes clear goals for sustainability.
Build Green
Environmental sustainability depends on having abundant, affordable, and energy efficient housing near transit, jobs, great schools, and parks — a quarter of KCMO’s greenhouse emissions come from inefficient housing and another quarter comes from tailpipes. I will work to make sure we preserve the buildings that we have with adaptive reuse. I will also strive for the highest standards of sustainability in new construction.
Invest in Sidewalks
I led a successful campaign that ended the unfair 'homeowners pay' sidewalk policy and winning $150 million in new city funded sidewalks. This was a great start, but I plan to do more so we can make even more progress on this critically underfunded piece of infrastructure.
Plant Natives
I'll work to implement the recommendations from the recently published city audit of the Parks and Recreation department's environmental practices. We have got to reduce the amount of turf grass in the parks system and replace it with native vegetation.
Add More Shared Electric Vehicles
I helped bring the city’s only bike share system to town back in 2012. Since then tens of thousands of users have replaced car trips with bike trips And if the unbelievable usage of the shared electric scooters are any indication, Kansas Citians are ready for more shared mobility options. This should include a fleet of shared electric cars and small vehicles so more folks can ditch their cars all together.
As a member of city council I will take tangible steps toward climate resiliency and reducing our carbon footprint. I will build on my previous successes in advocating for better biking, transit, and walkability. It's not enough for KCMO to simply say we're going to live up to the Paris Agreement, we have to act. The City's Climate Protection Plan sets some audacious goals — it's time we get serious about achieving those goals.