Evanston Commits to Full Carbon Neutrality by 2050

A view of downtown Evanston.
A view of downtown Evanston. The Daily Northwestern
A view of downtown Evanston.
A view of downtown Evanston. The Daily Northwestern

Evanston Commits to Full Carbon Neutrality by 2050

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Countries, States, and Cities are awash in climate change goals. Making the goals is easy, but spelling out how to get there requires vision and effort. The City of Evanston, for one, has tough goals. Evanston became the first Illinois city to get 100% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030 and the first to target carbon neutrality by 2050. To achieve its goals, a 17-member working group created a comprehensive plan. The 43 page Climate Action and Resilience Plan breaks down strategies for both mitigation and resilience. It explores the communities emissions inventory and gets into specific actions needed to make Evanston carbon neutral by 2050. We talk with Evanston’s chief sustainability and resilience officer Kumar Jensen and Evanston Community Foundation president Monique Jones about the progress and challenges of their climate resilience plan.