Cook County Climate Action Plan
OUR VISION
Our vision is an ambitious Climate Action Plan (CAP) that addresses both private and public emissions and fulfills Minnesota's statewide emissions-reduction goals.
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At the beginning of this project, we researched what plans other localities have passed. The city of Red Wing stood out in particular, with a plan structure that seems particularly implementation-friendly. In addition to committing to long-term emissions-reduction goals (e.g. net zero by 2040), Red Wing broke its plan down into 5-year increments, each increment with its own focus (e.g. electrification, transportation, etc.). This provided a way to keep the city on track with its long-term emissions-reduction goals while focusing on specific, actionable projects.
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An example of how this model would work well in Cook County is electrification. Minnesota's recent climate bill mandated a clean grid (100% sustainably-sourced electricity) by 2040. This means that whatever shifts we're able to make from fossil fuels to electricity will be tapping into this clean power and reducing the County's footprint. Therefore, a feasible 5-year plan could focus on electrification, such as EV accessibility and heat pumps (replacing/supplementing propane heating with heat pumps is very cost-effective--there's huge potential there).
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It's also extremely important that as we work to decarbonize Cook County, we simultaneously prepare for the climate impacts that are already here. This could look like investing in clean energy independence, a more robust grid, or fire evacuation plans.
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THE PROCESS
Hover over each step to read a description.
Gather commmunity support
This step includes:
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Petition drives
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Presentations
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Letter-writing
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Gaining endorsements from townships
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Getting the community ready to show up when we bring our initiative before the County Board
All the fun stuff we're doing right now!​
Pass the Resolution
Once we've gotten significant community support and drafted the Resolution, we bring it before the County Board and (hopefully) pass it. This will likely happen in April.
Draft a Resolution
In this step, we work with the County (in this case, with Commissioner Ann Sullivan) to draft a Resolution that, if passed, would commit the County to creating, passing, and implementing a Climate Action Plan that aligns with our vision. We're working on this now (almost to the final draft!)
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IMPORTANT: A Resolution is NOT a plan. This document alone does not outline how the County can reduce its greenhouse gas emissions; it merely commits the County to creating such a plan.
Draft the CAP
This is the fun part: where we hire experts, consult community members and stakeholders, and write a Climate Action Plan (CAP) that will outline how Cook County can decarbonize and adapt to climate impacts.
More community support
Next, we bring the final CAP back to the community to gather support.
Pass and Implement the CAP
Finally, we bring the completed CAP before the County Board, pass it, and begin implementing a sustainable future.
WHAT COOK COUNTY HAS ALREADY DONE
It's important to note that while Cook County doesn't have a Climate Action Plan (CAP) yet, they're still making steps towards decarbonization:
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Investigating electrifying some of the County vehicle fleet
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The County's multimillion-dollar Capital Improvement Plan is in the works, and it contains some significant sustainability measures for County buildings:
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Improving County building efficiency​
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Installing solar on County buildings
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Electrification
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We are really excited about these measures--every step in the right direction deserves to be celebrated. We also recognize that these measures only address emissions from the County as an institution, while many more emissions come from residential and business electricity, heating, and transportation (just to name a few significant sources--this is not an exhaustive list).