Lakewood moving ahead with climate action plan - cleveland.com

Lakewood moving ahead with climate action plan - cleveland.com

LAKEWOOD, Ohio -- City Council was recently presented with a draft of Lakewood’s climate action plan.

“The climate action plan is going to help us be better equipped locally to address the effects of climate change,” Lakewood Mayor Meghan George said.

“This will help us identify as a city and community the most effective and actionable ways to address climate impacts.”

Leading the city’s development and implementation of a climate action plan is consultant Sustainability Solutions Group.

Lakewood City Council previously budgeted $100,000 toward the creation of a plan -- with another $50,000 annually through 2027 -- which is using the theme of sustainably to balance municipal priorities, policies and programs across environmental, economic and social considerations.

Roughly four years have passed since Council-at-Large Tristan Rader, who chairs the public works and sustainability committee, introduced a commitment for the city to be carbon neutral by 2035.

“I’m very pleased to see we now have our first climate action plan with many concert action steps to get us to our shared goal,” Rader said. “We have already started by adding solar to city buildings, installing EV chargers around the city and swapping in new LED streetlights.

“Now, we have a draft of the plan that will help to organize and better plan our work as we continue towards carbon neutrality. I’d like to thank the administration and all those who participated in the development of this plan.”

The final action plan will boast a timeline and steps for implementation, as well as identify the most cost-effective and impactful projects for the city moving forward.

Also, Lakewood is committed to meeting a goal of using 100 percent renewable energy by 2035 and eliminating greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

“If I were to suggest any amendment to this plan, it would be to aim for zero carbon by 2035 -- in line with our 2019 resolution -- rather than 2050,” Rader said. “We will have plenty of time for that discussion in upcoming committee hearings.”

The climate action plan currently lists priorities such as contributing to a cohesive, integrated, sustainable initiative that considers people, place and prosperity in neighborhoods with metrics to analyze and prioritize city investments.

There are also an integrated set of actions and goals that address social and racial equity.
Lake Avenue in Lakewood. (John Benson/cleveland.com)

“We’ve done a lot of the work before this climate action plan was even in place -- including adding 6.5 miles of dedicated bike lanes -- but this will help us identify more ways that we can reduce our carbon footprint,” George said.

“Obviously there are always financial limitations in everything we do but myself, the administration, City Council and the community have really told us is this is a priority. We’re just going to systematically try to implement some of the recommendations of the climate action plan with the overall goal of a net zero policy by 2050.”

The mayor expects the climate action plan, which may include minor tweaks, to receive City Council approval this summer.

Read more news from the Sun Post Herald here.