The Eau Claire City Council commits to 100 percent renewable energy

The city of Eau Claire became the first municipality in Wisconsin to approve a sustainability plan that commits to being carbon-free by 2050. Our western organizer and Eau Claire city councilwoman Kate Beaton helped lead the charge to make the city's sustainability plan include the commitment.

“I saw what was happening on the nation level, and terrified for the future of our world," Kate says. "I thought that we had to do better locally. The city of Eau Claire set a goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy by 2050 in March 2018 by a unanimous vote with resounding support from our constituents. It’s clear to me that people want this. I hope that other communities in Wisconsin and in our nation will find inspiration in what we’ve done and what other communities are doing and take their own steps to reduce carbon emissions. We do need better climate leadership on the federal level but we can get a lot of good work done locally while we search for that leadership. Together we can do so much good. Together we can take on climate change and save our future.”

Listen to Kate talk about the effort on Wisconsin Public Radio.