August 30, 2012 – On August 29, 2012, Alton Mayor Tom Hoechst formally signed the Illinois Cool Cities Local Sustainability Protection Agreement 2015 Goals. The Agreement outlines various goals and strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2015.
The City of Alton, through the Climate Protection and Energy Efficiency Committee, has already completed or studied many of the items listed in the Agreement. Completed items include municipal electricity aggregation, the development of a Climate Action Plan, educating residents on energy saving measures at home, and the creation of a webpage, in Alton’s case http://www.alton-il.com/coolcities, to provide an update on energy saving activities. In addition to those projects listed in the Agreement, the City of Alton has also retro-fitted lights at the PublicWorksBuilding, installed timers on switches at City Hall, installed an electric car charging station at City Hall, saved over $750,000 through its energy consultant Dale Kelley and improved energy efficiency, and explored other methods of improving energy efficiency.
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“Alton is ahead of the game when it comes to energy efficiency,” said Mayor Tom Hoechst. “Our Climate Protection and Energy Efficiency Committee has secured grants in excess of $180,000 with a budget of zero dollars.”
Accepting the Agreement from the City of Alton was Christine Favilla of the Piasa Palisades Group of the Sierra Club.
The City of Alton has been a member of the Cool Cities Program since 2008, the first Metro-East community to join. The Climate Protection and Energy Efficiency Committee meets the first Thursday of every month at City Hall; these meeting are open to the public. For more information, please visit http://www.alton-il.com/coolcities.
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