A2Zero Carbon Neutrality Plan

The City of Ann Arbor is calling on local chefs, cooks and foodies to submit climate-friendly for a new A2Zero Cookbook. WEMU’s Kevin Meerschaert reports.

On Tuesday, November 5th, voting concludes, and decisions will be made about our elected leadership. Locally, there are a number of ballot issues to be decided as well. In Ann Arbor, one of the ballot questions is whether to create a publicly-owned Sustainable Energy Utility. It would be an opt-in, renewable energy source to further move the city towards it's carbon neutrality goals. Ann Arbor director of Sustainability and Innovations, Missy Stults, joined WEMU's David Fair and Michigan League of Conservation Voters executive director, Lisa Wozniak, for a review of the proposal and its implications for the future.

Some of Ann Arbor's streetlights can be distractingly bright. New LED lighting is helping with the city’s A2Zero Climate Action plan, but some worry over increased light pollution. WEMU's David Fair talked with Ann Arbor City Council member Dharma Akmon about how the city can move forward while addressing sustainability and accommodating public concern.

The group Ann Arbor for Public Power says, as long as the city continues to use DTE as its power utility, it won’t come close to reaching its goal of carbon neutrality by 2030. WEMU’s Kevin Meerschaert has this report.

The A2Zero Plan aims to have Ann Arbor carbon neutral by the year 2030. While it is an environmental initiative, it is being implemented with the idea of creating greater equity and equality through the process. WEMU's David Fair talked over that component of A2Zero with Missy Stults, the city's Director of Sustainability and Innovations.

You may not have noticed, but the Ann Arbor Climate Corps has been quietly working this year to combat the affects of climate change and help the city achieve its goal of carbon neutrality by 2030. The program is designed to increase the Ann Arbor Office of Sustainability’s outreach capacity and help residents take action toward that end. WEMU's David Fair talked it over with Ann Arbor Climate Corps program manager, Maggie Halpern.

Ann Arbor officials says some of the trees in the city are dying, and they attribute it to leaks in the DTE Energy natural gas infrastructure. The utility says it is not the problem. The city is asking DTE to conduct necessary repairs, while the utility argues it would be cost prohibitive to contract an arborist to evaluate potential methane damage to trees. What comes next? WEMU's David Fair discussed it with Ann Arbor Sustainability and Innovations Director, Missy Stults.

As part of A2Zero Week, the City of Ann Arbor has launched a new education program to encourage residents and businesses to reduce the amount of food that goes to waste. We have more from WEMU’s Kevin Meerschaert.

The goal of the challenge is to better align local businesses with the city’s sustainability goals and reduce their environmental impact. WEMU's Taylor Bowie has more.

A key component to adapting to a changing climate is resiliency—finding ways to be flexible in addressing change in environmental, social and economic ways. Ann Arbor recently received a $1 million grant from the EPA’s Environmental Justice Government-to-Government program to support investment in reaching the most underserved residents. Ann Arbor Sustainability and Innovations director Missy Stults joined WEMU's David Fair to discuss how the grant money will be applied.