The Lakewood City Council in Ohio has passed a resolution establishing a goal of 100% clean, renewable energy.
Lakewood, joining Cleveland and Cincinnati, is the third Ohio city to make this commitment, according to the Sierra Club.
The resolution states Lakewood will achieve 100% clean energy for city facilities by 2025 and community-wide by 2035. The legislation also directs the city to develop a plan for achieving this goal in consultation with the community in 2020. City councilmembers and the resolution’s sponsors, Tom Bullock and Tristan Rader, led efforts to draft and pass this resolution.
In a letter to city council colleagues, Bullock said, “The City of Lakewood already has made significant progress towards this goal: Since early 2019, we have procured 100 percent clean electricity for our two largest meters and 50 percent for all others, including for streetlights. In addition, we generate clean power from a co-generation system recently installed at the wastewater treatment plant, and we anticipate the installation of four large solar systems on city buildings in the coming year.”
“When it comes to using fossil fuels, Ohio communities have had enough business as usual,” comments Chad Stephens, conservation program coordinator for the Ohio Sierra Club. “While legislators at the state level continue to advocate for regressive policies that hurt families and workers, cities like Lakewood are advocating for a different future: one that promotes clean air and water, healthy communities, and affordable electricity for all. Lakewood’s leadership in pursuing 100 percent clean, renewable power for the entire community shows that a just and equitable transition in Ohio will be local.”
Photo: Ferris324 at English Wikipedia [Public domain]
