Thanks to the City’s Residents, Irvine is One of Three California Cities to Receive a $1 Million Grant to Work on Climate Change

Photo obtained from the CoolBlock.org webssite

Climate scientists say that we must achieve carbon neutrality by 2030, if we are to avoid an irreversible ecological tipping point. That is 20 years earlier than previous estimates, which means we must immediately accelerate our efforts.

The Cool City Challenge, a remarkable public-private partnership, is one of California’s strategies for reaching this ambitious new goal. Because cities generate 70% of the planet’s carbon footprint and citizens generate 70% of those emissions through our daily lifestyle choices, it’s critical that cities and citizens work together to become carbon neutral by 2030. And, it all begins with education.

Thanks to the commitment of more than 200 Irvine residents who have volunteered to be Cool Block leaders, our City joins two others (Los Angeles and Petaluma) in receiving a $1 million grant from the Empowerment Institute to help fund a climate “moonshot strategy.”

As part of the grant, Irvine’s Cool Block leaders and their teams will host a series of sustainability workshops to share information with their neighbors regarding energy efficiency, water conservation, emergency preparedness, and more. The goal of the Cool Block program is to educate and inspire Irvine residents to help dramatically reduce our City’s carbon footprint, neighborhood by neighborhood.

Irvine Community News & Views thanks all of the City’s Cool Block leaders for your help in making sure Irvine was included in this grant, and for your commitment to creating a carbon-neutral community that can become a model for other cities across California!