🌱 Leading with Resilience: Milwaukee’s Path to a Sustainable Future

Working to protect the environment for over 20 years, I have heard the language go from “conservation” to “green” to “sustainability” to “eco-friendly” to “resilience.”  Our vision at the City of Milwaukee’s Environmental Collaboration Office (ECO) has been to make Milwaukee a world-class eco-city on America's Fresh Coast. We develop practical solutions that improve people’s lives and the economy while working to protect and restore the natural ecosystems that support our long-term prosperity.  But this year, being “resilient” is taking on new meaning.  It means moving forward when you’ve been knocked down or face obstacles.  It means staying true to your principles when they are no longer in fashion.  It means standing strong for what’s right.

Over the next few years, we have a real battle ahead. We are living a climate tragedy.  In 2023, the United States of America passed the largest infrastructure, environmental, and clean energy funding in our nation’s history as part of a global effort to reduce the worst effects of climate change while rebuilding the economy and community.    Milwaukee was awarded millions in funding for tree planting, new net-zero energy housing, electric vehicle charging, healthy home upgrades, river restorations, protected bike lanes, lead-pipe replacements, and more.  It took time to roll many of those programs out, but we were on the cusp of transformative change in our community and nation.  Unfortunately, we are seeing a staggering retreat from these opportunities.  Yet the planet has not stopped warming. Destructive storms, wildfires, and other challenges are not going away just because they are unsettling to think about.

I can only hope that with further review, tireless advocacy, and building coalitions, our federal partners will see that many of these projects are ready to go and will create American jobs and support American manufacturing while supporting affordable and abundant clean energy for homes and businesses.

In the face of these challenges, I reiterate our values at ECO: Servant Leadership where we put the common good first; Collaboration to solve problems by talking with the people most affected; Understanding of eco-systems and natural resource limitations so that we do not waste our resources, but rather protect them for our long-term economic prosperity, enjoyment, and human health; Professionalism and trained staff to strategically bring technologies to the community that work while saving money.

In April, a new 6MW solar field in Caledonia was energized, dedicated to providing 100% renewable electricity to 57 City buildings, with plans for 4 more MW planned for construction later this year.  Our team has launched a new Food Saver Challenge as part of the FEED MKE initiative.  We launched a new Green Job Career website to connect people to the training and employers who will help rebuild our city. We are also coordinating over $2.6 million in energy efficiency and rooftop solar projects on city buildings, while planning a new public EV charging network.

As always, we stand ready to collaborate with partners that share our values and vision. We want hard-working Americans to build and install clean energy technologies.  At ECO, we do this work because we want a strong, healthy, and vibrant Milwaukee and a strong and vibrant United States of America. By staying resilient and true, we can make Milwaukee a world-class eco city.

Learn more at Milwaukee.gov/ECO