The city of Dubuque is committing to a 100-percent reduction in its greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The city council voted to adopt the goal at a meeting last night.
Mayor Brad Cavanagh says as climate politics shift, the city can still make progress.
“The biggest reason I say that is because it’s not just national and international governments that have anything to do with this,” Cavanagh says. “There are a lot of organizations that work on this front, and we’ve worked with them a lot.”
The mayor says grants and philanthropic partnerships have advanced the city’s climate goals. In 2013, Dubuque set out to cut emissions 50-percent from its 2003 levels before 2030, and has achieved a 39 percent reduction so far. The goals are non-binding, voluntary targets.
City councilmember David Resnick says as climate change accelerates globally, Dubuque must maintain its science-based benchmarks.
“We’ve had a real push against our clean air, clean water, just making this a wonderful place to live, and we know why,” Resnick says. “One of the major problems is the use of fossil fuels.”
The target is based on a methodology from the World Wildlife Fund, and it comes as the Trump administration is repealing emissions limits on coal and gas power plants.
(Gavin McGough, Iowa Public Radio)