Cleveland Heights has launched a comprehensive plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ensure the city can better withstand severe weather brought on by climate change.
The city conducted two separate greenhouse gas inventories to identify major contributors to emissions at the city level and community level. The Cleveland Heights Climate Forward Plan is the city's first plan meant to address greenhouse gas emissions.
"The intention is to spread action to address climate change by reducing contribution to global warming by way of all the emissions that we produce from the various activities that we embark on here at the city," Sustainability and Resiliency Coordinator Andy Boateng said.
Greenhouse gas emissions, created through the burning of fossil fuels, traps heat from the sun, contributing to the warming of the planet and other effects of climate change.
Cleveland Heights aims to reduce its emissions by 30% over the next five years and reach net zero on carbon emissions by 2050.
The plan proposes short and long-term projects to help meet its emission reduction targets including promoting clean energy, expanding the number of EV charging stations and conducting an urban forestry master plan.
The plan promotes green infrastructure, improves stormwater management and expands air quality monitoring city-wide.
The plan will have a payoff for the climate and the economy, Boateng said.
"Having them in the [cohesive] plan, identifying the trade -offs, identifying the co -benefits, and making sure that you prioritize those actions has been a very key way that we are reducing the cost of implementation and our wastage in our system," he said.
The plan will also help the city and its residents better withstand severe weather events worsened by climate change.
The city has experienced extreme heat, flooding and worsened air quality in recent years, Boateng said, but says setting goals for reducing emissions will help mitigate these effects.
"Climate change does not discriminate, and so we want to make sure of that," he said. "We have an all-inclusive approach, with equity elements factored in there, and that we are addressing climate change from all angles."
The city began to implement its plan in February with the Energy Savings Efficiency Project which aims to reduce emissions by replacing aging heating, cooling and power systems in five city buildings and retrofitting LED streetlamps.
The plan was created with Leopardo Energy, a Chicago-based firm that works with cities to reduce operational costs by making energy efficiency Improvements. It's expected to reduce the carbon emissions by 4,228,000 pounds, according to a news release.
