On 25th anniversary of Chicago heat wave, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle vows 100% renewable energy in county facilities by 2030
Cook County-owned buildings will rely solely on clean energy by 2030, board President Toni Preckwinkle announced Monday while warning of the dire climate change that could re-create the conditions of Chicago’s deadly heat wave 25 years ago.
The clean energy plan will require all county facilities to run on 100% renewable electricity and achieve a 45% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 as well as be carbon neutral by 2050, Preckwinkle said at a news conference. The goals stem from a Cook County Board resolution passed in 2019 amid mounting fears about global warming.
Preckwinkle began her message with a moment of silence for the estimated 739 people who died after sweltering temperatures seized the city in 1995. She blamed the fatalities, which were disproportionately in Black neighborhoods on the South and West sides, on the structural inequalities that continue to cause disparities in coronavirus deaths today.
“Climate change didn’t cause these inequities, but it made viable a set of conditions that were always present but unacknowledged,” Preckwinkle said. “We collectively created the conditions that made it possible for so many residents to die in 1995. And if we’re aware of these conditions, we can and should change them.”
Officials did not name a price tag for the initiative, but Jamie Meyers, energy manager for Cook County’s Bureau of Asset Management, said the upfront costs will be financed from bonds as part of the county’s capital improvement program. The current budget also allots money for energy efficiency projects, so no money will come out of the operating budget to finance the plan, Meyers said.
Cook County’s chief sustainability officer, Deborah Stone, said the goal of curtailing carbon emissions by 45% from its 2010 baseline already has been in the works, with the county touting that one-third of greenhouse gas emissions were reduced since Preckwinkle took office a decade ago. In addition, solar panels are being designed for the Skokie and Markham courthouses and the Cicero Records Center, with 25 total facilities currently under consideration for solar energy use.
“It’s a steep target to meet,” Stone said. “But it’s important because we’re already feeling the effects of climate change. And climate change is now projected to have worse impacts than we thought even a few years ago.”
Becoming carbon-neutral by 2050 means that all carbon emissions are not only lowered but that the remaining discharges must be offset by clean energy. As for the 100% clean energy bench mark, energy from wind, solar and geothermal sources will be tapped into for all county buildings — a feat Stone hopes other local governments can follow.
“We think they’re reasonable and achievable,” Stone said. “As you’ll see, the plan relies on commonsense actions and on technologies that exist today.”
The goals will be accomplished by four pillars of sustainability: reduce, maintain, renew and support, Meyers said. “Reduce” aims to make up 62% of the county’s 2050 goal of greenhouse gas reductions through building upgrades such as energy-efficient lighting, and “maintain” hopes to monitor energy use to account for another 25% of needed decreases.
“Renew” means the county will create clean energy by seeking out solar and wind energy contracts, with a focus on local projects that create jobs, Meyers said. This step would lead to 12% of the 2050 standard for greenhouse gas reductions.
Lastly, the “support” pillar will enact incentives for departments to save energy as well as prioritize energy efficiency for new building standards, Meyer said. He vowed those initiatives will be “fiscally responsible” and actually “provide the best return” for taxpayer dollars.
Joining the county officials were Fenell Doremus, producer of the “Cooked: Survival by Zip Code” documentary, which explores the 1995 Chicago heat wave, and Ayesha Jaco, executive director of West Side United Team.
After highlighting how the heat wave 25 years ago devastated “our most underserved communities,” Jaco noted the enduring difference between the Loop and West Side’s life expectancies — one that her organization aims to halve by 2030.
“We, too, name structural racism and historical disinvestment as key pillars that aid to this gap,” Jaco said.
<i>ayin@chicagotribune.com</i>
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