Wednesday, October 26, 2022 | View in browser
An update on our progress and next steps
Dear Evanston community member,
At Monday night’s City Council meeting, our Sustainability & Resilience Coordinator Cara Pratt presented an update on Evanston’s implementation of our Climate Action and Resilience Plan (.PDF). The long and the short of it was that we’ve made critical and important strides (for instance reducing emissions 38.3% from a 2005 baseline) but also that we have way, way more work to do.
One essential component of Evanston’s sustainability work is a commitment to environmental justice. I wanted to share an update on these efforts, and also give a bit of a preview of coming attractions.
We achieve environmental justice when every resident experiences equal access to our environmental assets, such as our lake, parks, safe sidewalks, and bike lanes, and is equally protected from environmental hazards and health risks, including polluted air and water. The ugly (but perhaps unsurprising) truth is that the opposite has too often been the case – and that unless we work proactively and with complete knowledge, environmental injustice is likely to persist.
The City’s recently adopted five-year strategic health plan – or EPLAN – identified environmental justice as one of the top three priorities for health equity in the City. In 2020, the City Council passed an Environmental Justice Resolution (.PDF) which, among other things, envisions conducting an environmental equity investigation. The purpose of the investigation is to understand, map, and begin to resolve environmental injustices that occur in our community.
I am pleased to share that after some pandemic- and personnel-related delay, as well as a great deal of groundwork-laying and important progress in areas like lead pipe replacement, affordable housing retrofits, and more, the City of Evanston intends to launch our investigation in 2023. My expectation is that the 2023 City budget will fund this work, and it will be conducted in partnership with community activists and experts, among whom one of the key leaders is Environmental Justice Evanston (EJE), a working committee of Citizens’ Greener Evanston.
To help prepare for this investigation, EJE has been and will continue holding Listening Sessions with Evanston residents, focused on those living in the 2nd and 5th wards, to better understand what environmental injustices they face in their day to day lives. The City and EJE have also been working together to develop a GIS Mapping Tool to effectively target those neighborhoods most affected by environmental hazards.
Between now and the official launch of the investigation, City staff and EJE will work together to develop a working plan to ensure it addresses the most urgent needs of our residents. If you are interested in joining this effort, please reach out to me at dbiss@cityofevanston.org and I’ll be sure to connect you with those who are most engaged in the process.
I look forward to staying in touch on this issue as we continue this critical work.
Onward,
Daniel Biss
Mayor, City of Evanston
dbiss@cityofevanston.org
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