Des Moines to create climate plan after setting goals to curb emissions
Coinciding with Earth Day, Des Moines officials announced Thursday that they are beginning the process to establish a climate plan that will help fulfill the city’s recent commitments to drastically reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
Earlier this year, the city adopted some of the most ambitious city-level sustainability goals in the country, according to climate advocates and elected officials. Des Moines aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 45% between 2010 and 2030, and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
By 2035, the city hopes to achieve 100%, 24/7 carbon-free electricity from sources such as wind and solar — a goal to which no other American city had committed when the resolution passed in January, advocates said.
On Thursday, city officials announced in a news release that they have put out a request for proposals, seeking to hire a consultant that will manage a year-and-a-half planning process to “engage … a diverse group of stakeholders, technical advisors and the public to identify and prioritize mitigation and adaption measures.”
► More, from January:Des Moines sets ambitious targets to lower greenhouse gas emissions, go carbon-free by 2035
The resulting Climate Action and Adaptability Plan will determine how the city reaches its energy goals over the next three decades. Its purpose, the release said, is to “provide the tools and resources to help build a more resilient, healthy and vibrant community, and ensure that the benefits of climate action accrue to all of us, including our most vulnerable residents and marginalized communities.”
Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie told the Des Moines Register that the consultant must consider how to make a plan that equitably includes and benefits all residents, not just business owners and government buildings.
Part of the reason for the plan is “to make sure that everybody gets to take advantage of the commitment that we’ve made to environmental action,” he said, mentioning ideas such as more workforce and affordable housing, or low-interest loans for residents’ sustainability efforts.
“This isn’t just about the city making our buildings more energy-efficient … but how do we spread that over the whole community? That’s part of what we want to do,” he said.
Cownie, who presides over the international non-governmental organization Local Governments for Sustainability, also credited the local grassroots group Citizen’s Task Force on Sustainability, saying that the effort “would not have been possible without (their) hard work and dedication.”
Councilmember Josh Mandelbaum, who drafted and introduced the original resolution aimed at curbing emissions, said having a climate plan is an “important step” in making progress toward those targets.
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“We have led in providing an ambitious vision for climate action by passing a first-in-the-nation 24/7 clean electricity standard and setting a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050,” Mandelbaum said. “Our leadership in these areas depends on how we implement these goals, and our Climate Action and Adaptation Plan is an important step.”
The city also highlighted another example of its efforts toward sustainability Thursday: Des Moines’ fleet of city-owned vehicle now includes electric cars — specifically, four “E-Fleet” vehicles that will be used during neighborhood inspections. The council recently approved the purchase of 11 more.
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Shelby Fleig covers Des Moines city government for the Register. Reach her at [email protected] or 515-214-8933.
