Mayor's Office

As we look forward to Earth Day on April 22nd, we have a lot of environmental successes to celebrate⁠—far more than we could celebrate in a day, or even a week. So this year, the City is celebrating a full Earth Month.

City staff have been working hard on actions that help our community and our environment. From cleaner vehicles to efficient buildings to renewable energy, we are making big strides toward reaching our climate commitments. We are also working to improve our ecosystems and open spaces, and reduce pollution and excess nutrients entering our waters in a number of ways.

I have also been able to champion our priorities and learn from other cities through my roles as Chair of the EPA’s Local Government Advisory Committee Air and Climate Workgroup and as a Co-Chair of Climate Mayors, a bipartisan network of more than 470 U.S. mayors demonstrating climate leadership through meaningful actions in their communities.

Earth Day provides us with an opportunity to celebrate our accomplishments and a chance to look ahead, set ambitious goals, and make bold choices for our climate and our future. Earth Day was founded by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson to inspire big thinking and decisive action to provide clean air, land, and water, and create green jobs. And it resulted in landmark environmental protections that protect the health and wellbeing of Americans today.

At the City of Madison, we take this inspiration to heart⁠—from our 100% renewable energy and net zero carbon emissions goals to our Climate Forward Agenda, we work every day to create a sustainable, resilient city and to support the health and wellbeing of residents.

Every week in April, I look forward to celebrating the good work we’ve been doing in these areas, and to announcing new actions we’ll be taking. Stay tuned, and Happy Earth Month.