The La Crosse City Council in Wisconsin has unanimously passed a resolution establishing a goal of 100% clean, renewable energy across the city by 2050.
La Crosee is the fifth city in Wisconsin to move away from fossil fuels and set a goal of 100% renewables.
La Crosse joins Eau Claire, Madison, Middleton, and Monona as the fifth Wisconsin city to adopt this goal. The city will also aim to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. In addition, Milwaukee passed a resolution last week to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and to mitigate racial and economic equity through the jobs that would be created.
The resolution was drafted by members of the Coulee Region Sierra Club’s Ready for 100 team, the Sustainable La Crosse Commission, and a representative from the city planning department.
“We very much appreciate that the City of La Crosse had already set a goal to obtain 25% of its energy from renewable sources by 2025, but given the dire warnings we’ve received from scientists about looming environmental crises over the past year, we couldn’t stop there,” stated Kathy Allen, Sierra Club Ready for 100 lead volunteer in La Crosse. “Transitioning to 100% renewable energy will not only address environmental concerns such as climate change, it will improve human health by cutting air and water pollution from fossil fuels like coal and gas. We’re proud that La Crosse will be contributing to a healthier planet, healthier people, and a healthy economy.”
As part of the resolution: “The city envisions a climate and energy planning process that will reflect community values and promote stakeholder participation to develop low-carbon means to reach these goals. Stakeholders include residents, low-income and minority populations, large and small businesses, local utilities, the educational community, institutions, the building and construction sector, transportation providers, waste companies and many others.”
“The city of La Crosse took an important step to ultimately zero its carbon footprint and limit climate change with the adoption of the Carbon neutrality and 100% renewable energy by 2050 resolution,” said City Council Member Larry Sleznikow. “This is exciting news for our community and its residents. Climate change affects everything — our weather, economy, infrastructure, health, environment, biodiversity, security, agriculture, etc. La Crosse’s Mayor, city government, and staff plan to work together to meet the targets outlined in the resolution to achieve our carbon neutrality and 100% renewable energy goals by 2050.”
Filed Under: News, Policy
