Cedar Rapids, Iowa City get $1M each for regional climate planning

Five Eastern Iowa counties — including Linn and Johnson — are teaming up to use $2 million in federal money to create a climate action plan for the region.

Although Cedar Rapids and Iowa City were authorized to pursue the money after the state declined to seek $3 million for state climate planning, the cities decided it made more sense to develop a plan for five contiguous counties: Linn, Jones, Benton, Johnson and Washington.

“There are many connections in terms or commuting, working, schools, business, etc. within the ECICOG region that all impact greenhouse gas emissions and they (the counties) already have a history of working together,” said Jennifer Fencl, environmental services director for the East Central Iowa Council of Governments.

ECICOG and community partners next month will start reaching out to leaders within the region to help develop the East Central Iowa Climate Action Plan. A preliminary plan due March 1 could make the region eligible for a share of $4.6 billion in federal funds to implement the projects.

“It is important to say that this is a planning process designed to meet our counties and communities where they are in their efforts to address climate change and to build capacity within the region to assist with future climate action planning and securing implementation funding,” Fencl said. “Participation is voluntary.”

Greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, cause global warming by trapping the sun’s heat in the atmosphere. The transportation, electricity and industry sectors together are responsible for more than 75 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

Iowa is among about half the states without statewide goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, The Gazette reported earlier this year.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency offered each state $3 million from the Inflation Reduction Act to come up with a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create green energy jobs, lower energy costs for families and reduce air pollution, among other objectives.

Iowa was one of only four states to turn down the money.

Because Iowa said no, the state’s three largest cities — Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Davenport — were eligible to seek $1 million each. Davenport decided not to seek the funding, which opened the door for Iowa City.

Iowa City and Cedar Rapids submitted identical workplans for the five-county region, Fencl said. The EPA approved those plans in August.

“One of the goals for this effort is to build capacity in the greenhouse gas mitigation space to assist cities and counties in our region into the future,” Fencl said.

Des Moines also received $1 million to develop a three-year plan for its metro statistical area, which includes Polk, Dallas, Guthrie, Jasper, Madison and Warren counties, as well as Story County, said Polk County Administrator John Norris.

They have hired Allison Van Pelt to lead planning efforts and are seeking input from cities and counties about what types of projects they’d like to do, he said. One idea that has come up is about a massive tree-planting effort.

“It doesn't have to become an ideological discussion about climate change,” he said. “As long as the project addresses what the EPA is looking for, we want to start with something all the communities could easily get behind.”

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