The city Of Irvine’s efforts to transition to a carbon-neutral economy by 2030 seem to be paying off, as Irvine has become one of three California cities awarded $1 million by the Cool City Challenge.

On Monday, Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan said she was “impressed” by residents’ response to the challenge.

“I’m so impressed with the city’s commitment to climate solutions and response to this call to action,” Khan said. “Without the support of Irvine residents, we would not have exceeded our goal of 200 volunteers and been awarded this competitive grant. This community support, coupled with our work to develop a comprehensive Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, gives the city of Irvine a strong lead in the fight against climate change. I can’t wait to see what our community does next to help reach our carbon neutrality by 2030 goal.”

Sona Coffee, environmental program administrator for the city of Irvine, said she was proud to announce the city’s recent achievement in its quest for carbon neutrality.

“We are very excited about our progress on climate action so far in Irvine, and this recent $1 million award for climate planning and outreach efforts comes at just the right moment for us to move forward with our carbon neutral by 2030 strategy,” Coffee wrote in an email to Irvine Weekly.

Coffee adds that Cool Block will be launching in January, but told Irvine Weekly that resident can submit input or comments for the Green Ribbon Environmental Committee meeting on December 8.

“We are planning for several engagement opportunities to gather feedback from the community on our climate plans in the new year,” she said. “We are currently coordinating meetings internally across our city departments, and with key stakeholder groups across the civic and private sectors in Irvine.”

Introduced in August, the Cool City Challenge started as a call to action by the city of Irvine, seeking 200 volunteers to help form environmental community groups, known as Cool Block Teams by September 30.

Coffee explained that the Cool Block Teams would attend workshop programs focused on environmental education, with topics ranging from energy conservation and water efficiency, and eventually would help conceptualize a never-before-seen Climate Moonshot strategy in Irvine.

“The Empowerment Institute wants to see that we have a strong and active community base that is out there learning about these challenges and making these changes on the ground level,” she said. “While that’s happening, we’re designing this really forward-thinking climate plan for the city. Half of the money will go toward the community outreach program with the volunteers, and the other half is to help us come up with a plan,” Coffee told Irvine Weekly in August.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom described the Cool City Challenge “as an exemplary how-to guide for local communities to make a significant impact on climate change. It demonstrates the untapped potential of citizens to engage in an effective and achievable way.”

In addition to Irvine, the cities of Los Angeles and Petaluma also received the Cool City Challenge award, which was created by Empowerment Institute, a nonprofit organization that focuses on the reduction of carbon through transformative social change strategies.

In a statement Monday, David Gershon, CEO of Empowerment Institute, which designed the Cool City Challenge, said he was inspired by the aggressive climate strategies presented by the trio.

“These cities deeply inspired me with their dedication to such a rigorous application process, their out-of-the-box moonshot thinking, and the high-caliber leaders spanning the public, private and civic sectors they attracted to their moonshot teams.”

For more information on how to participate in Irvine’s Cool City Challenge can reach out to [email protected].

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