To respond to the growing threat of climate change, the village of Oak Park developed an ambitious plan to make the village more sustainable. Residents gathered Sept. 4 at the Oak Park Main Library to see how the Climate Ready Oak Park plan is going.
“This is your future. We messed it up. We’re trying to fix it. But we also would love your help too,” said longtime climate advocate Laurie Casey.
In 2022, Casey founded Climate Ready Community Outreach to Oak Park, or COOP, to give local activists and residents a voice in shaping Oak Park’s sustainability initiatives and to support the work of Climate Ready Oak Park.
“We always want young people on our team, so if you want to come, we will give you the microphone and support you in whatever initiatives you want to start with us, or even the ones that you’re doing at OPRF,” Casey said.
The plan sets ambitious community-wide targets, including decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2030, achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and powering village facilities with 100% renewable electricity by 2030.
Climate Ready Oak Park launched in 2017 through the village of Oak Park’s Office Of Sustainability and Resilience. The head of the Department, Lyndsay Roland Nieratka, works to connect the members of the initiative through consistent meetings and team projects.
“We want to know who’s missing from these tables and how we can engage those voices. That’s something we as a village are always trying to do better; we’re always trying to make sure that we’re talking to all of our residents, all of our businesses, all of the people who we’re trying to lead and touch and help,” she told the people assembled at the meeting.
The group hosts monthly check-in meetings to keep Oak Park’s climate goals on track and make sure everyone has a voice in the process.
Another important partner of the Office of Sustainability and Resilience is OPCAN (Oak Park Climate Action Network), a coalition of residents and organizations working together to promote climate awareness and advocate for stronger local policies. By partnering with the village, OPCAN helps connect grassroots efforts with official initiatives.
The lead networker of the coalition, Laura Derks, helps oversee OPCAN’s progress, partnerships, and overall effectiveness. The group brings together both local residents and village leaders to advance the goals of Climate Ready Oak Park.
Derks emphasized the power of collaboration: “I know there are a bunch of people who’d be happy to sit in on a bunch of young adults who want to do something…what could we do? How could we feel like we’re making a difference in between all the other stuff we’re doing?” she said.
Bringing a student voice to the table is OPRF senior and Environmental Club co-president Lyla Ramos. Ramos has been a prominent advocate against climate change, actively engaging with COOP and providing impactful leadership in school-based climate initiatives. From coordinating student-led environmental initiatives to hosting climate-focused weekly meetings, Ramos demonstrates how students can play a role in shaping Oak Park’s sustainability efforts.
“I get a glimpse of everything that’s going on in Oak Park, all the events that are going on. I feel so in the loop. It’s just a bunch of different organizations with a lot of community members. We just blab about what we’re working on at the moment, our own projects, and we see if we can help each other at any point.”
Through the combined efforts of Oak Park community members of all ages, the village is working toward achieving the ambitious climate goals it has set.
Reflecting on this progress, Ramos said, “When I was just starting, it definitely made me more concerned. I thought, ‘oh my gosh, this is happening now.’ You really start to see, you know, some of the bad stuff that’s happening around. But it also gives me hope; a lot of people are working on it, so it just gives me a lot of hope to see how we’re going to fix things.”
