Cedar Rapids City Council adopts ‘aggressive’ Community Climate Action Plan

Eric Holthaus, sustainability coordinator for the city of Cedar Rapids, speaks with Joanne Stevens (right), owner of Stevens Homes & Communities, and Kristen Nall (center) on Sept. 21 during the unveiling of the draft of Cedar Rapids’ Community Climate Action Plan in front of the Cedar Rapids Public Library. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Cedar Rapids City Council on Tuesday adopted a plan committing Iowa’s second-largest city to action to slow the rapidly worsening climate, with targets to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and to enhance community resiliency to the consequences of human-caused global warming.

The Community Climate Action Plan outlines steps that residents and neighborhood groups, industrial partners, businesses and city officials can take to engage in local climate action, with an eye toward equity to uplift those who will disproportionately bear the consequences of a warming planet. City officials lauded the plan as a likely model for other communities to use.

The document outlines an ultimate goal of shifting to renewable energy sources and cutting carbon emissions particularly in the industrial sector, which is responsible for 72 percent of emissions in Cedar Rapids.

It also lays a framework for embedding sustainability in all aspects of life in the city, with more walkable “15-minute” neighborhoods that expand access to amenities. Residents should have access to high-quality green space, healthy food, clean air and water and green jobs under the plan’s objectives.

Mayor Brad Hart called this an “aggressive plan” — perhaps the “greatest thing” developed by the city team and community stakeholders — that will bring together residents, schools, volunteers, business and industry partners with action items.

“Every one of us can have some sort of role in moving toward the goals that are set out in the plan,” Hart said. “ … We’ll have to keep working at it but this is a big step.”

Lead consultant Abby Finis, a senior program manager with the Minnesota-based Great Plains Institute, told The Gazette that what stood out with this plan’s formation is the community buy-in throughout the planning process, from multinational companies based in the industrial city to residents.

Finis said the 2020 derecho showed the value of having one-on-one conversations with residents who do not typically attend council or other city meetings. That lesson carried through to this process, Finis said, as the city continued to reach out to people where they were at through ground teams and other in-person methods.

“What sets the plan apart from some of the other ones is … that emphasis on, ‘This is a plan for the city, with the city, and we can’t do it without everybody jumping on board and doing their part to implement their plans,’” Finis said.

Addressing the council Tuesday, Jean Wiedenheft, the land stewardship director with Indian Creek Nature Center and member of the Community Climate Advisory Committee — the group that helped draft the plan — said, “It is very forward-thinking, it is very ambitious, it is very comprehensive, and I really appreciate the fact that it is multifaceted, which means there is a piece of it for everybody to participate in and hopefully make a difference for the community.”

Jason Snell, another committee member, said the plan is comprehensive and focuses on equity.

But he identified challenges to plan implementation and opportunities for future improvements, including stronger incentives for the industrial sector to meet goals of reducing carbon emissions in line with the city’s plan.

Snell also said that, as the plan is tied to a previous United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, its targets for cutting carbon emissions — the key to long-term climate stability — are “too slow.”

The most recent IPCC report, unveiled in August, shows the climate crisis is rapidly worsening, and Snell said he wanted to see this plan’s goals formally linked to the panel’s ongoing reports.

“I just want to make sure that Cedar Rapids is as successful as possible,” Snell said. “Already we’ve gotten word from some people in Des Moines who are interested in emulating what we’re achieving here.”

Several council members asked about opportunities for continually reviewing the plan, progress on implementation and assessing a need to accelerate certain targets based on evolving circumstances in regards to climate change.

Many also expressed an interest in exploring opportunities for expanding solar energy and other renewable sources.

City Council member Ashley Vanorny said she hoped the plan would be a “living document” that evolves as the climate crisis worsens.

“We’re voting on one of the most significant things to vote on in my lifetime on council,” Vanorny said. With a 29-year implementation timeline, as goals are set with a 2030 and 2050 vision, she said “a lot of this will be something that I will be seeing through and be vigilant in hoping happens.”

City Sustainability Coordinator Eric Holthaus said the council will be updated annually, and all actions in the plan have timelines when work begins publicly. During the annual updates, he said, staff would have an ability to insert the most recent scientific reports and news.

Holthaus said the city also hopes to share best practices with other communities to learn from Cedar Rapids’ process.

Considering residents have gone through the derecho and several recent floods, council member Dale Todd said, “I don’t think there’s a city in America that understands the sense of urgency to implement this action plan quickly than Cedar Rapids.”

He felt the plan was thorough, accounting for vulnerable populations across the city and factoring in needs such as inner-city food access.

“This is a very impressive document that will act as a model for other communities for a long time,” Todd said.

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