While the spotlight is often shone on large-scale state and federal efforts to affect climate change, Chicago’s suburbs also are making changes to move toward zero emissions at the local level.
Municipal efforts to prepare for a transition away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy have been ramping up over the last five years, with priorities on electric-vehicle infrastructure, stronger building codes and energy alternatives such as solar power.
“That term ‘transition’ is often defined differently, depending on the communities you talk about,” Mayor Kevin Burns of Geneva said. “Some communities have a trajectory that’s pretty quick. For others it’s a couple of decades out altogether — but we know where we’re going. We know ultimately where we will be and where we want to be.”
Burns leads the Environment Committee of the Metropolitan…