City of Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns, who is Chairman of the Caucus Environment Committee and Energy Subcommittee, spoke on public radio about the Caucus’ newly completed climate action plan, in advance of the July 13th launch event. Mayor Burns was a guest on the WBEZ program, Reset, and talked about what the climate action plan is and why regional cooperation is important.
The climate action plan is “… a guidebook for municipalities large and small to address the climate issues we’re all facing,” Mayor Burns told Reset host Sasha-Ann Simons, when asked to explain the plan. “It is not a complicated set of rules and regulations. It identifies strategies that all communities can undertake in order to make a difference regionally. It’s critical that we operate as a region, as opposed to individual communities, because we are so interconnected.”
When Simons asked how citizens can get involved in climate action, Mayor Burns said, “We need to tap the energy, the enthusiasm and the passion of our citizens to not just work alongside us, but also to challenge us. To ensure that we’re doing everything that we can at a municipal level, so that we’re a part of this regional plan.”
He explained that City Council members do not have all the answers to every problem, but municipalities can achieve more when working together with enthusiastic citizens.
“I believe that when we launch this plan on July 13th, we’re going to see an extraordinary amount of support from everyday citizens saying, ‘I want to be a part of this, I want to help advance it, and I stand ready to work with you,’” Mayor Burns said.
Other guests during the Reset segment included Angela Tovar, the City of Chicago’s chief sustainability officer, and Chloe Gurin-Sands, manager of health equity and planning at the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC). MPC is co-hosting the launch event with the Caucus.
To listen to the full 17-minute segment, go to https://www.wbez.org/stories/climate-change-action-plan-for-the-chicago-region-is-unveiled/61487df2-5e99-45dc-83b1-cdc618f2e5c5.
To register for the virtual launch event on July 13 for the 2021 Climate Action Plan for the Chicago Region, go to https://www.metroplanning.org/events/virtual/detail/578. The event will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. Registration is free, but required.
To view the 2021 Climate Action Plan for the Chicago Region or the Summary Document before the launch event, go to https://mayorscaucus.org/climate-change/.
