Omaha city council looks to take next step in developing Climate Action Plan this week - WOWT

Omaha city council looks to take next step in developing Climate Action Plan this week

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - It’s been in the works for years, and now the city of Omaha is looking to take the next step in beginning the process of creating a Climate Action and Resiliency Plan.

After months of searching, this week, Omaha City Council could vote to approve a partnership with a company called paleBLUEdot, that will help the city create a climate action plan.

“This is something I’ve been advocating for quite some time, so I’m pleased to finally see it on the agenda this week,” says Omaha’s City Council President Pete Festersen on Sunday afternoon.

Festersen says Omaha is behind other major cities when it comes to having a plan in place.

“We’ve made some progress in recent years like increasing recycling rates, changing our street lights to led, electric charging stations across the city, but we really need a comprehensive plan that’s actionable and measurable to make a difference on this issue,” he adds.

Last fall, Mayor Jean Stothert introduced the Request for Proposal; a document laying out the expectations for a consultant, who will help the city create the plan.

The document took more than a year to develop, and the search for a consultant was nationwide.

Some, including several council members, argued the city wasn’t making it a big enough priority.

The mayor spoke on the criticism shortly after.

“I don’t see it as being a lot of delays, I look at it as doing it right, and getting a lot of input from a lot of people and not just be a group of two or three people and making a decision,” she said at the time.

The document highlights six objectives for the consultant to cover, ranging from what’s being done now, to measuring how to do better.

“A baseline inventory for greenhouse gas emissions in the area, what is that current baseline so we know what we’re measuring against,” said Steven Jensen, the city’s former planning director, during a press conference with the Mayor last year.

The city council will vote Tuesday on whether to pay $376,000 to the consultant group to make the climate action plan a reality.

According to the group’s website, they’ve created more than three dozen climate action plans already.

“I feel like we should’ve done this a long time ago, I feel like most major cities have,” Festersewn says. “Lincoln, for example, passed their plan two years ago and is well into implementation but I’m glad we’re finally here, I just want to make sure we engage the public substantially on it, and have them help us implement this plan a year from now once the city council adopts it.”

Festersen adds that issues like protecting the environment are a big draw to cities like Omaha, too.

“When you talk to young people, they get this issue, they understand it,” he adds. “Whenever we’ve had an environmental issue at city council, they are some of the best testifiers. I think it’s a workforce issue too, I think young professionals want to live somewhere where they know sustainability is a core value.”

Festersen also says that if passed, the $376,000 consultant fee could be paid for through a grant from the Department of Energy.

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