Thursday morning (9/17), the NIRPC Executive Board Meeting occurred via Zoom. A total of 64 participants were there, many of them present to support our efforts.
Six members of the community, including an eight-year-old from Crown Point, spoke during the public comment period expressing their desire for NIRPC to pass the resolution to apply to the IU Resilience Cohort.
Eight of the twelve executive board members were present at Wednesday’s meeting, and all eight voted unanimously to pass Resolution 20-24.
This was an amazing win! We give a heartfelt thanks to all that have signed and shared the petition, donated, and spread the word about NWI Region Resilience. We thank Chair Michael Griffin and the other NIRPC executive board members for their positive votes, as well as Kathy Luther (Director of Environmental Programs), Chair Bill Emerson, Jr., and the rest of the NIRPC Environmental Management and Policy committee for all of their hard work on the resolution and willingness to have us present and speak during their meeting on September 3rd. Thank you to Andrea Webster and Erin Lasher the from the IU Environmental Resilience Institute, ICLEI, and Danni Shaust from the Indiana Sustainability Development Program for being supportive and always there to offer clarity and answer any questions we and others may have.
We are moving the Region in a more sustainable, resilient, and climate-friendly direction thanks to local grassroots effort and support. This greenhouse gas inventory will be key in improving our air quality, improving the health of our community, reducing greenhouse gas emissions cost-effectively, and becoming a leader of sustainability in Indiana.
To view the entire executive board meeting, click here. The result of the meeting was also covered by Tim Zorn in the Chicago Tribune.
You can still sign the petition and donate to fund IU externs and the cost of data software from ICLEI.
The next step is to motivate individual towns and cities to apply to the Resilience Cohort. If you want to see your town or city do their own inventory, please reach out and let us know!
NIRPC Resolution 20-24