The Carbondale Community Sustainability Action Plan

SAP Cover

The City of Carbondale, Illinois recognizes that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activity are catalyzing profound climate changes, the consequences of which pose substantial risk to the future health, wellbeing, and prosperity of our community.

It is for this reason that in February 2019, through listening sessions, consultations with community stakeholders, and revision by subject matter experts, members of the City of Carbondale Sustainability Commission began drafting the first Carbondale Community Sustainability Action Plan (SAP). This Action Plan was written by drafting authors Saxon Metzger, Jane Cogie, Sarah Heyer, and Amy McMorrow Hunter, featuring contributions by Marilyn Tipton, Rodney Morris, Melissa McCutchen, Kevin Clark, and Amelia Blakely.


Emissions Reduction

In April 2022, the Carbondale City Council unanimously passed the Carbondale Community’s Sustainability Action Plan, committing the Carbondale Community to carbon neutrality by 2050 and a 45% reduction by 2030.

In May 2022, the City of Carbondale hired its first Planner & Sustainability Coordinator to implement the Sustainability Action Plan and guide the Carbondale Community to our established carbon commitment, housed in the Community Development's Planning Department.

Timeline

The Carbondale Community’s Sustainability Action Plan is supported by Criteria for Assessing City and Community Priorities, Restorative Justice Frameworks, Distributive Justice Frameworks, and Procedural Justice Frameworks that outline how the plan will remain dynamic and ensure equity through implementation.

In the year since passage of the Carbondale Community’s Sustainability Action Plan, the city has taken great strides in implementation across culture, policy, and practice – including but not limited to the completion of the first community-scale GHG and equivalent emissions inventory for the baseline year
2019.