After my home county (Kane) adopted the Greenest Region Compact, the largest sustainability collective of communities in the US, we set out to develop a Climate Action Implementation Plan. The goal set out in the proposed plan was to reduce community-wide GHG emissions by 25% (below 2019 levels of 7,012,103 metric tons) by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Kane County is proposing to do this by addressing 9 sectors, through 44 strategies and a menu of 255 actions associated with community resilience and GHG emissions reduction.

As a committee member of the Climate Action Implementation Team, I was tasked with:

• Reviewing community input from over 1,100 diverse residents

• Analyzing data from community baseline assessments, including Greenhouse Gas Inventory; Climate Vulnerability Assessment; Renewable Energy Potentials Study; and Ground Cover, Heat Island, and Carbon Sequestration Study

• Developing strategic targets in Climate Economy and Zero Waste, and implementation actions to achieve those targets

Credits:

Pale Blue Dot