This summer has been a scorcher, temperature-wise, and has already come with one violent storm that caused a considerable amount of damage to trees and property in our villages.
Climate change is another reality of life in the 21st century that our national leaders seem keen to ignore, so it was heartening to see so many local leaders step up last month to sign on the Cross-Community Climate Collaborative, or C4, for short.
The stated goals of C4 are varied but include a pledge to reduce local greenhouse gas emissions 100-percent from 2010 levels by 2050. Riverside has already signed on to C4 and it appears Brookfield will follow suit as early as this month. We encourage North Riverside to consider this as well.
Local governments can be leaders in demonstrating that it’s possible and beneficial to reduce our carbon footprints, and those joining C4 are keen to prove that. Right now, they are putting together a core working group, which will work with a pair of consulting firms to identify opportunities and funding to make these goals real.
Nothing will happen overnight, but we hope C4 will gain momentum and roll out initiatives to help make our communities greener and more sustainable. This is a good start.
