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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
EARTH MONTH RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, is acknowledged as the start of the modern environmental movement, and today, Earth Day is widely recognized as the largest secular observance in the world, marked by more than a billion people every year as a day of action to change human behavior and create global, national and local policy changes for a better environment, and April has come to be known as "Earth Month" by extension; and
WHEREAS, under Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle's leadership, Cook County has set ambitious climate goals, to reduce carbon emissions from County-owned facilities and operations by 45 percent by 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, as well as to use 100% renewable electricity by 2030; and
WHEREAS, the Cook County Clean Energy Plan, issued in 2020 by the Bureau of Asset Management and Department of Environment and Sustainability and which received a National Association of Counties Achievement Award in 2021, sets forth a roadmap to reach these goals by reducing energy use and maintaining those reductions, and increasing use of renewable energy while supporting these actions through appropriate policies and procedures; and
WHEREAS, through the diligent work of the Bureau of Asset Management, Department of Facilities Management, Department of Capital Planning, County building engineers at facilities across the County, and other partner bureaus and departments, Cook County facilities have already reached our 2030 greenhouse gas reduction goal by reducing carbon emissions 45% from 2010 levels; and
WHEREAS, Cook County was recognized by People's Gas Company for significant reductions in natural gas usage through updates to ventilation systems, boilers, steam traps and improved insultation; and
WHEREAS, Cook County's Bureau of Asset Management has issued a request for proposals for an off-site renewable energy purchase agreement that will not only help meet th...
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