Town Council unanimously approved new priorities, goals, and scope for the plan, including considerations of ecosystem stewardship, climate stewardship, and climate resiliency.
CLI alumni, community members, and Alliance staff attended the Town Council workshop last week to give public comments on the priorities, goals, and scope of the new Town of Jackson Sustainability Plan. Emma Leither, Miles Yazzolino, Nicole Milavetz, and Grant Gallaher – also all members of the youth-led climate advocacy group Sunrise Jackson Hole – spoke to the need for urgent, collaborative action to protect our ecosystem, climate, and community health. Drawing individually and collectively from their experiences as young people in Jackson, they supported the recommendations of ToJ Ecosystem Stewardship Administrator Tanya Anderson for a more comprehensive, inclusive, and ambitious sustainability plan than the Town has ever pursued before.
The Council voted unanimously (5-0) to move forward on a Town of Jackson Sustainability Plan that includes the following staff recommendations:
- Three core priorities of ecosystem stewardship, climate stewardship, climate resiliency
- Overarching goals that include reaching Net Zero carbon emissions by 2030, maintaining healthy wildlife populations, preserving and enhancing water quality, reducing air pollutants, identifying areas of community vulnerability, and actively working to increase resiliency
- A Hybrid Municipal and Community Sustainability Plan scope, which will incorporate operational targets for the Town as well as aspirational targets for the community as a whole
- A higher standard of carbon emissions monitoring than past ToJ sustainability plans, including Scope 3 emissions monitoring in addition to Scopes 1 and 2
- Guiding questions that consider the health of the environment, community, and economy, as well as equity as central to sustainability actions
This vote represents a commitment by the Town of Jackson to live up to our reputation as a regional and global leader in sustainability. The Alliance thanks Tanya Anderson and the Council for their work and votes to move this important project forward. We will continue to monitor its progress and encourage everyone in the community to contribute their voices in future workshops and design phases.
And thank you especially to the community members – Emma, Miles, Nicole, and others – who are speaking up and taking action for a more sustainable Jackson Hole; we need your voices to be heard so that we can protect what matters.
Watch the recording of the November 21 Town Council Workshop and discussion of the ToJ Sustainability Plan here: https://www.jacksonwy.gov/491/Agendas-Minutes
