Village of Oakwood joins Power A Clean Future Ohio
Action Reaffirms Commitment to Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions
(COLUMBUS, OH)— At Tuesday’s Village of Oakwood City Council meeting, council members unanimously adopted a resolution to join Power a Clean Future Ohio, furthering the community’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. PCFO will work with local leaders to provide technical assistance and partnerships to help staff as they develop a roadmap during Fiscal Year 2022 for the Village to achieve its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and to proactively seek input from the community in developing and promoting the plan. With passage of this resolution, the Village of Oakwood became the 28th community to join Power a Clean Future Ohio and the first Northeast Ohio community to join in 2022.
Power a Clean Future Ohio is a nonpartisan coalition that is dedicated to working with local communities to develop equitable clean energy solutions to benefit the well-being of residents, the environment, and the economy.
Joe Flarida, executive director of Power a Clean Future Ohio said, “We are proud to welcome the Village of Oakwood as a PCFO community. The community has received recognition for its beautification program and is experiencing new growth and development opportunities. We look forward to working alongside the Village of Oakwood as they continue their commitment to serving their residents with smart, sustainable policy actions that improve lives and build climate resilience into the community’s future.”
As detailed in the resolution, the Village of Oakwood will provide feedback once a year on how well PCFO is serving the village’s needs and the village will take ownership for working at its own pace to implement any policies from two of the PCFO policy categories that will result in carbon emission reductions, cost savings, and quality of life improvements.
“We have a unique opportunity to address climate issues that are impacting the future of those in our community,” said Chris Callender, Ward 1 Councilman. “We look forward to working with Power A Clean Future Ohio to improve energy costs and support local renewable energy production.”
Mayor Gary Gottschalk said, “Oakwood Village has transformed from a community once reliant on taxes from smokestack industries to now prospering with a steady stream of upscale business in technology life science and medical research. That’s exactly why joining Power A Clean Future Ohio makes sense for our community. There is no charge to join PCFO and it provides us an opportunity to meet with technical experts to ensure we continue to move our community forward.”
Village of Oakwood resident and co-facilitator of Black Environmental Leaders SeMia Bray said, “As a resident of this fine community, it is exciting to welcome the Village of Oakwood as one of the newest members of PCFO.”
Developing innovative solutions to harmful air pollution will serve to protect the health of all residents of the Village of Oakwood. Village leadership will be exploring actions to make residential solar approval easier for their community, addressing air quality, and transportation—specifically the installation of EV charging stations.
In 2020, 103,400 people were employed in clean energy jobs throughout the state, and Ohio auto manufacturers are planning major investments to build more electric vehicles in Ohio in the coming years. In addition, 39 companies that are either headquartered in Ohio or are among the state’s 100 largest employers have dedicated plans to be powered by 100% renewable energy by a specific date.
Communities like the Village of Oakwood are joining with these employers in making a commitment to spur the economic growth and development that results from embracing clean technologies and advanced transportation. The jobs of the future are in clean energy and clean transportation.
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