By Pamela Tate

In Climate Ready Oak Park, the village’s community climate action plan approved by the village board last year, we committed to a 60% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030. To reach this critically important goal; we must not only reduce our emissions through more stringent building codes; electrifying transportation; expanding composting; retrofitting our homes with electric heating, cooling and cooking; and switching to rooftop or community solar; but also sequester or otherwise reduce carbon dioxide that is already in the atmosphere.

By Mike Trenary

Thinking of switching to an EV (electric vehicle)? Oak Park makes it easy. Many would-be EV owners are daunted by the question of where to charge, but our community boasts a growing number of chargers in public parking facilities. With always-free charging and free parking all day Sundays, fueling your drive could cost you $0 — and cost the planet nothing in climate-harming emissions if you use the solar-powered charging stations at The Avenue Garage, where the number of stations has grown from four to eight, and at North Boulevard.

By Oak Park Climate Action Network

The recently proposed residential project at Chicago and Ridgeland is a welcome reminder that Oak Park remains attractive to real estate developers. The question is: Will these developers, and many others, incorporate Climate Ready Oak Park goals in their blueprints?

By Wendy Greenhouse

New York, L.A., San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago … what’s stopping Oak Park from joining these and many other U.S. cities moving toward requiring new buildings to be gas-free?

By Amy Rosenal

We write as the Oak Park Climate Action Network (OPCAN), a group of village residents who use their expertise to advance climate action that is commensurate with the planet’s need and our community’s opportunities. Our mission is to eliminate Oak Park’s climate pollution through equitable policies and practices that benefit and engage us all.

By Mona Blaber

We appreciate Tim Kelly’s letter on electrification and Oak Park’s climate impact [Electrification has a downside, Viewpoints, June 22], but as people lose their homes, livelihoods and sometimes lives to climate-fueled natural disasters, we can’t just point out the obstacles to climate solutions anymore. We have to find ways to overcome them.

By Wendy Greenhouse

The environmental benefits of switching from natural gas to sustainably generated electricity are clear. Removing fossil fuels from our homes reduces carbon emissions, helps fight climate change, and makes our homes healthier to live in.

By Wendy Greenhouse

Fighting global climate warming and saving money are not the only arguments for replacing gas-powered appliances with all-electric: your gas-powered cooktop and oven may be hazardous to your health.

By Doug Burke

Thank you for publishing the excellent review by Nick Bridge of Saul Griffith’s very important book, Electrify Everything [‘Electrify’ is the key to the climate crisis, Viewpoints, Jan. 26]. This book is a serious, solid account of what must be done to avert catastrophic climate change. But it is also an optimistic look at a much cleaner and safer world that is within our power to create.

By Nick Bridge

We seem to be at an inflection point regarding our stance toward global warming; meaning that a lot is happening at all levels, from the international all the way down to our local households.

As many in our community know, the climate emergency demands comprehensive and effective action by all of us. Each year in the last three, Oak Park has borne climate impacts that damaged homes and yards, incurred unexpected costs, and affected our daily lives. This includes intense rains that flooded basements, deadly polar vortexes that caused skyrocketing heating costs, and long summer droughts that leave our yards and gardens parched.