Aiming to establish a roadmap to achieve its ambitious climate action goals, the City of Evanston is asking the community to provide input on a draft of its next climate action plan.
The City’s draft Climate Action and Resilience Plan (CARP), available at cityofevanston.org/climate, specifies actions the City and its community partners will take to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 while improving Evanston’s resilience to climate change.
In September 2017, Mayor Stephen Hagerty established a Climate Action and Resilience Plan Working Group to develop the plan and help the City meet its emissions reduction commitments to the Mayors for 100% Clean Energy initiative, Chicago Climate Charter and We Are Still In coalition, among others. Over the last year, the group has drafted the plan with input from residents and local organizations.
Community members are encouraged to visit cityofevanston.org/climate to view the plan and complete the public comment form by Sept. 28. Feedback can also be provided in-person at any of five upcoming public events:
Evanston Streets Alive!, 1-5 p.m. on Sept. 9, Main Street and Ridge Avenue
Environment Board Public Comment Forum, 7 p.m. on Sept. 31, Morton Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave.
Mayor’s Climate Action and Resilience Plan Forum, 9-11 a.m. on Sept. 22, Ecology Center, 2024 McCormick Blvd. (RSVP at cityofevanston.org/climate.)
CGE Green Drinks, 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Sept. 26, Celtic Knot, 626 Church St.
Seventh Ward Meeting, 7 p.m. on Sept. 27, Ecology Center, 2024 McCormick Blvd.
In addition to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050, other plan goals include achieving 100% renewable electricity for all Evanston properties by 2035, and achieving communitywide zero-waste by 2050.
After incorporating community input, the final version of the Climate Action and Resilience Plan will be presented to the Evanston City Council by the end of 2018.