By Kris Leonhardt/Mike Hollihan
Press Times staff
GREEN BAY – City and state sustainability leaders held a press conference on June 22 at Green Bay’s East River Emilie Park to highlight the city’s work with climate and sustainability goals, while noting financial incentives infusion from the Inflation Reduction and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
“The partnership that’s been enlivened between the city of Green Bay and the state of Wisconsin and our federal officials and Biden administration, Senator (Tammy) Baldwin, ,and other folks that have allowed for us to begin to make some real progress on the climate action front,” Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich stated.
Genrich commended the new partnership between the city of Green Bay and the AmeriCorps and Serve Wisconsin program at the state level, stating that it has made it possible to establish the first municipally organized Conservation Corps in the state of Wisconsin, led by Maria Otto, who is our conservation corps coordinator.”
Genrich said that the group has done some work removing invasive species and replanting native species to assist in erosion control, as well as other work in parks and greenways
“This area in particular has been a focus of their work over the spring and leading into the summer here, removed an incredible amount of buckthorn. I don’t know how many pounds and off we’ve weighed it. But this has been a big project and it’s just a really nice example of the kinds of things that have been possible because of their presence here.
“In addition, you know, because we’ve received this support from the federal government and from the state level, we’ve been able to get serious about comprehensive energy planning.
“We’ve had a sustainability commission within the city of Green Bay, I think going back to the 2017-18 timeframe, and we’ve developed a lot of momentum as a result of that establishment and discussions within the community. But, until we started to receive this infusion of federal funds to make possible — the Conservation Corps and our comprehensive energy planning — it was really difficult for us to make that action that is necessary.”
Director of the Wisconsin Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy Maria Redmond spoke on the local governments which have stepped forward to initiate these projects, commending the work that Green Bay has initiated.
“So in 2019, Governor (Tony) Evers made the goal and set the goal of 100% carbon-free electricity consuming new state by 2050. And in April of last year, we published the state’s first clean energy plan with a focus on creating a blueprint of how are we going to get to that goal of 100% carbon-free electricity consumed in the state,” she recalled.
“We created four pathways. We worked with many, many stakeholders, including our cities and our local governments to create four pathways. These pathways are to deploy clean energy technology, maximize and optimize energy efficiency, innovate and transportation and modernize our buildings and industry; and, throughout all that we want to center this work and prioritize environmental justice. Also, ensure that we’re building out a workforce and ensure that there’s lead by example (actions).
“So our local governments are really without any legislation, without any support. Our local governments have been leading the way.”
Redmond also emphasized the importance of the bipartisan support, stating “I don’t think we would be standing here right now if it wasn’t without the landmark investment that we’ve seen on the federal level to help push forward our local and state efforts.”
Green Bay Sustainability Commission Chair Seth Hoffmeister called the work “important first steps” in sustainability action.
“It’s wild to me to think about five years ago and the moment that we’re in right now and just how unimaginable it seemed,” Hoffmeister stated.
“But folks here in Green Bay realize that we didn’t have the luxury to wait around for somebody else to act on climate when we came together. We organized our community and we set our city on a path to 100% clean energy. Now, five years later, we can finally say that we are acting on climate.
“And the city of Green Bay is developing a plan that will ensure our community is a place where we can continue to grow and thrive for generations to come.”
Green Bay Public Works Resiliency Coordinator Melissa Schmitz said that the city, along with its partners, began the process of developing a clean energy plan last year.
“And, this will be a roadmap for the next five to 10 years for the city to work towards its climate goals. Through this planning project, we are identifying key areas where we can leverage the federal funding directly for municipal operations, and also where the city can educate residents and businesses on available funding for upgrades to their homes and businesses and vehicles.
“The first funding is going to make it possible for the city to fund solar and fleet upgrades as public demonstrations and will directly address the financial constraints that we all currently face when considering investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy.”