Chicago’s Climate Action Plan

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Friday, April 22, announced the city’s plan to reduce carbon emissions by 62% by 2040. This plan will:

• Reduce costs for residences and businesses by shaving utility costs and expanding access to renewable energy sources. The city is committed to retrofitting 20% of all buildings and 90% of the city’s own buildings by 2035. It also will expand community-based renewable energy.

• Reduce waste by creating a collection system for organic wastes by 2025, diverting 90% of residential waste by 2040, and creating jobs in the materials reuse sector.

• Make the transportation system totally free of carbon emissions and improve air quality by expanding walking, biking, and transit options, increasing public transportation ridership, and electrifying city and commercial vehicles.

• Investing in a clean energy future and transitioning to clean battery storage technologies during peak energy demand periods.

• Investing in community energy resilience and ensuring equity in all decision-making.

How Cities Are Addressing Climate Change

Chicago is not the only city that is aggressively tackling climate change. Other major cities are addressing climate issues in very similar ways. The National League of Cities (NLC) studied climate action plans from 50 cities and found the most common are boosting energy efficiency in buildings, investing in electric vehicles, optimizing waste management, improving access to public transportation, and investing in renewable energy.

As the NLC noted in its report, “Cities have been at the forefront of sustainability and climate innovation, and their climate action plans serve as a testament to this important work. By focusing on improving building efficiency, investing in electric vehicles, optimizing waste operations, improving public transportation and investing in renewable energy, cities are taking significant steps to decreasing their greenhouse gas emissions”.