by Sue Schenk | special to the COURIER

Would you like to help Claremont? You can by volunteering to become a member of the City of Claremont’s Sustainability Committee. There are several openings at the moment and we hope you will consider applying.

So, what is the sustainability committee? A short history: In 2006, Claremont adopted a revised general plan focused on sustainability. The city formed a task force of citizen volunteers and city staff who worked for quite a while to put together a document that would list our goals and the actions needed to achieve them. The first sustainable city plan was approved in 2008. The seven goal areas are: resource allocation of water, energy, and waste; environmental public health and local agriculture; transportation; sustainable built environment; open space and biodiversity; housing and economic development; and public outreach and education.

Each goal area has a number of individual goals, along with targets to help us determine if we are meeting the goals, and proposed actions to help us reach the targets. There have been two updates to the plan, one in 2013 and a major one in 2021. The plan calls for annual reports and the format for those was also revised in 2022.

So, what does the sustainability committee do? The committee works with city staff to consider new additions to our sustainability efforts, updates the plan as needed, and helps to collect data for the annual report. It also recommends Claremont City Council support for items such as entering into a three-year agreement with clean energy fuels for renewable natural gas for the fueling station at the city yard, and directing staff to work with Ways2H to advance a pilot project at the yard to convert waste to hydrogen.

The committee has four regular meetings per year, with additional gatherings if needed. At the meetings we discuss areas where our goals and actions might need to be updated, for instance those related to improving conditions for bike use, increasing affordable housing, or helping to maintain local biodiversity. We also help to collect information for the annual report about the targets related to citizen efforts.

Claremont needs to know what to do in order to achieve its goals, and this is where you can help. If you are interested in helping the city move forward in any area of sustainability, please call (909) 399-5460 and ask how to apply for the committee. The current members have interests in different goals and bring a variety of ideas to our discussions. Please consider adding your own!