Sierra Club DC Applauds New DC Climate Goals
Contact: Rebekah Whilden (rebekah.whilden@sierraclub.org)
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser has committed DC to ambitious new climate goals that would zero out greenhouse gas emissions from buildings in the District and substantially reduce the amount of solid waste from DC.
DC Department of Energy and Environment Director Tommy Wells announced the goals this week at the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco.
The DC Chapter of the Sierra Club applauds these goals, which include:
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A Net-Zero Carbon Buildings Declaration whereby DC is joining with 18 global cities in pledging to ensure that all buildings, existing and new, will meet net-zero carbon standards by 2050;
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An Advancing Towards Zero Waste Declaration whereby DC, together with 23 global cities, pledges to cut the amount of waste from citizens by 15 percent, reduce the waste sent to landfills by 50 percent, and increase waste diverted away from landfills by 70 percent by 2030; and
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An Equity Pledge that commits DC to increasing community-led development and inclusive climate action to achieve environmental, health, and economic benefits for all citizens.
This announcement, together with the recent release of DC’s energy and climate action plan and Sustainable DC 2.0 plan, indicate that DC leadership is committed to the District's sustainability, energy, and climate planning and implementation.
Meeting these ambitious goals will require substantial action by policymakers in DC. To meet the energy targets, the DC Council needs to pass the Clean Energy DC Omnibus Act introduced over the summer by Councilmember Mary Cheh. It would transition DC to 100 percent renewable energy for electricity by 2032, provide funding for businesses and residents to transition to clean energy, and set groundbreaking building energy efficiency standards that will move toward achieving the net-zero energy standards to which Mayor Bowser committed DC.
The Transportation and Environment Committee, chaired by Cheh, is holding a hearing on the bill on October 9 at 11am. The Sierra Club is recruiting DC residents to testify at the hearing about the importance of action on climate change and the need to end our addiction to dirty fossil fuels. If you’re interested in testifying, please email mark.rodeffer@sierraclub.org. In preparation for the hearing, the Sierra Club and coalition partners are hosting a testimony development workshop on Wednesday, October 3, the week before the hearing. For more information on this workshop, please contact Rebekah Whilden at rebekah.whilden@sierraclub.org. We hope to see you there!
Thanks to you, DC is taking action on climate change! Let’s keep up the good work!