The city of Ithaca is considering reaffirming its commitment to the climate goals laid out in its Green New Deal following pushback from the Trump administration against similar climate policies.
The Ithaca’s Green New Deal, which passed in 2019, includes plans to cut the city’s climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Some of those plans include electrifying all of its buildings and replacing the city’s gas-powered cars with electric ones.
The city is behind on meeting some of those targets, and has lost federal funding for some related projects after President Donald Trump froze federal investments in some environmental efforts.
Trump also signed an executive order calling to terminate what he describes as the Green New Deal, even though there is no federal version of the plan.
During the city’s common council meeting Wednesday, Siobhan Hull, a member of the city’s Sustainability and Climate Justice Commission, presented a recommendation that the council pass a resolution reaffirming its climate commitments at this time.
“It is important to reaffirm that our city's work remains important within this shifting federal context,” Hull said. “And that we remain committed to upholding the goals that we first outlined in the Ithaca Green New Deal in 2019.”
Ithaca's sustainability director, Rebecca Evans, joined Hull in presenting the resolution to the council. Evans said the city is behind on some of the commitments laid out in the Green New Deal, including its aim to reduce emissions from the city vehicle fleet by 50% by the end of this year.
However, Evans said the best practice is not to amend the resolution after timelines are missed, but rather to acknowledge the delay and commit resources to accomplishing the stated goals as fast as possible.
“It’s very atypical in this field of work to change a goal, even if you don’t think that you’re going to make it,” Evans said. “It’s not looked at in a positive light, even if you’ve already missed it.”
Common council members agreed to consider the resolution reaffirming the city’s commitment to the Green New Deal at a future meeting.