Meeting Time: May 01, 2023 at 6:00pm EDT
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Agenda Item

RESOLUTION 2023-15 - A RESOLUTION adopting the City of Lakewood Climate Action Plan. (Referred to PWS 03/20/23)

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    Angela Yeager over 1 year ago

    As a Lakewood resident I support the resolution. We have a responsiblity to the next generation to take action to decarbonize, build resilience in communities, preserve nature, and mitigate the mistakes we have made with regard to our planet. We lag behind other countries in this regard and given the presence of such a large supply of freshwater, we should be leading on climate action. Actions like this make me proud to call Lakewood home. We must continue to support initiatives like this Climate Action Plan and efforts like the IRA and BIL.

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    Steven Burns over 1 year ago

    As a Lakewood resident (and landlord), I support the resolution. We have a path to carbon neutrality and just need to incentivize the adoption of green technologies as they become viable (like heat pumps are becoming right now!)

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    Elena Stachew, PCFO Northeast Ohio Strategy Consultant over 1 year ago

    I served on Lakewood's Climate Action Plan Advisory Committee last year, and I'm fully in support of this Climate Action Plan. This plan is bold and ambitious, which is just what we need to address the climate crisis head-on. As part of PCFO, I'm excited to work with the city of Lakewood to directly execute on the low carbon actions listed in the plan. Personally, I'm particularly excited for the robust residential retrofits, to both convert our homes to electric and to reduce electricity usage through efficiency upgrades to reduce demand on the grid. I appreciate the acknowledgment to work with renters, tenants, in addition to landlords and property owners, as I rented in Lakewood the last 3.5 years. There is an opportunity for the city to pilot and build out a workforce training and development program to install the necessary retrofits. I also love the possibility of Lakewood converting a few streets to a 'superblock', like in Barcelona. I've been to Barcelona, and Lakewood is not far off already being one of the most densest and walkable communities in Ohio. Imagine Lakewood being compared to a European city because of its "community and pedestrian first" feel, outdoor seating, play areas, and green space. Lastly, I'm very intrigued by Lakewood incorporating an annual carbon budget, and applying both a climate and equity lens to the decision-making process of every project, therefore operationalizing climate action into every city department. Lakewood is a PCFO member community, so you are able to work with a qualified team of experts to implement some of these actions today. If Lakewood just implements one of the actions I mention above, you will be a pioneer in our county, state, possibly even regionally and nationally, paving the way for other small to mid-sized residential cities to act. Thank you!

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    John Mitterholzer over 1 year ago

    As a Lakewood resident for the past sixteen years and the director of the George Gund Foundation's Climate and Environmental Justice Program, I applaud the city for its efforts to address environmental sustainability and climate change. Having previously served as a member of the Citizen Advisory Committee and the Resiliency Task Force I was excited to serve the city again, as a member of the Climate Action Plan Advisory Committee. My fellow advisory committee members were resolute in their commitment to create a plan that is rooted in science and equity. The plan is aggressive as that is what is required to mitigate and then adapt to climate change. While aggressive, the plan clearly shows that climate action is a good investment that will save Lakewood residents money and increase our quality of life. I thank Mayor George, her administration, and City Council for supporting this effort and encourage the plan's swift passage allowing the city to quickly move to implementation. This plan also sends a clear signal to the region and the federal government that Lakewood is a leader on climate mitigation. An important signal to send as the Inflation Reduction Act now provides billions of dollars for climate action that Lakewood and its residents can use to implement this plan.

    Thank you.

    John

    John Mitterholzer
    1409 Rosewood Ave.
    Lakewood, OH 44107