From Lagging to Leadership: A Lot Can Change in a Year
I became the Executive Director of the Charlottesville Climate Collaborative on January 15th, 2019. At that time, we were a staff of three which had just become an independent nonprofit organization. We had a lot of work to do. Our community was lagging behind on climate. Across the Southeast, cities and counties were setting emissions reductions goals far superior to our own goal of a 10% emissions reduction by 2035.
Getting to Work
We knew that we needed to drastically improve our standing if Charlottesville hoped to be a part of the solution to climate change. Our team set to work, and on February 1st, we convened 43 local businesses leaders who signed onto a letter to the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County to set a new target — 45% reduction by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050.
By February 14th, we released our citizen letter, and nearly 1,000 local residents lent their names to our effort to move our local government toward climate leadership.
But local governments are only part of the climate solution. In January and February, the C3 team was working with 86 businesses and 100 households through our Better Business and Home Energy Challenges. It was inspiring to see so many members of the community willing to do their part to reduce emissions.
In January, we also set out to understand how rising energy costs were impacting our community’s critical need for affordable housing. We requested energy consumption data from our local utility in the hopes of creating a map to identify where energy efficiency services could have the greatest impact on housing affordability.
Gaining Momentum
Over the summer, dozens of business leaders, students, and residents stepped up and spoke before City and County leaders, giving them the confidence to take a strong position on climate. On July 1st, Charlottesville City Council unanimously voted to adopt C3’s recommended emissions reduction target, and on October 16th, Albemarle County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to match the City’s goal.
By the fall, the C3 network was growing fast! Our team is now working with 125 unique business and nearly 400 households - all taking direct action to reduce their climate emissions. Together households and businesses have saved 4,826 tons of carbon or enough energy to power 578 houses for an entire year.
Ready for More in 2020
Many have asked for even deeper engagement. We are now supporting 16 major employers in a Green Business Alliance who will commit to significant emissions reductions in 2020. We similarly support more than a dozen schools in a Green Schools Network and recently convened 22 area nonprofit building owners to offer them our personalized project navigation on their path to becoming climate leaders.
And that energy data we asked for in January? Just this past week we received the data file of natural gas consumption aggregated by census tract, which we will combine with local housing stock data, and average median income to create Charlottesville’s first energy equity map in 2020.
In January, our organization was just getting started. A year later, our staff has grown to six, and the demand for our engagement, our expertise, our research, and our policy recommendations grows every day. 2020 holds tremendous promise as we move beyond goal setting to the critical work of reducing our emissions in businesses and homes across our community.
Join Us
We are able to operate at this high level, thanks in large part to donors like you. We have ambitious plans for the coming year, and we will need all the support we can get to achieve our goals. You can make your gift today at, www.cvilleclimate.org/donation-page.
I am so fortunate to do this work in a community ready to embrace climate leadership and chart a course toward a healthier planet by starting right here at home.
I wish you the happiest of holidays with those you love.
With gratitude,
Susan Kruse