Regional Climate Action

April 15, 2021

Breaking Ground


It’s past time to get serious about reducing emissions

When discussing resilient cities, climate action (the steps to reduce emissions) must be a top priority.  Addressing climate provides the needed steps to affect critically important aspects of overall community resilience including preparedness, safety, health, poverty, and environmental justice.

There are many resources cities and county governments can utilize to map out a path to significant and meaningful reductions that would include reducing building emissions, increasing renewable energy sources, and electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, to name a few.

One such resource is the American Cities Climate Challenge, which provides procurement guidance, tools & resources, and tracking for action taken by local governments concerning renewable energy sources needed to reduce emissions.  It also tracks engagement.

Moreover, the site provides tools that interested stakeholders can use to inform themselves on what their area leaders are actually doing in the area of renewables and serious climate action.  The map provides a good look at regional efforts as well as performance across states.  In our region of Northeast Florida, Jacksonville Beach is the only municipality listed.  Alachua County, Ocala, New Smyrna Beach, Mount Dora, and Orlando are notable and close to our market.

If your local government is engaged on these issues but is not represented on the map, you also have the opportunity to provide the relevant information to make the tracking more accurate and informative.

US Climate Action Week

Next week is US Climate Action Week.  In a recent RMI post, Jake Glassman states that Despite the United States’ renewed commitment to the Paris Agreement, it has never been more important for governments at all levels to keep working toward a zero-carbon future. He goes on to provide many valuable resources.  Read the full post and find these resources here.

I encourage our leadership, here locally and around the state, to take an all-embracing approach to immediately reduce emissions. It will benefit all of us by providing a thriving economy, and a healthy and safe place to live and work.