Lawrence’s Environmental Sustainability Advisory Board will prepare a letter to the City Commission in favor of revising a renewable energy ordinance, which city staff members want to instead repeal and replace with a climate neutrality resolution. 

Ordinance 9744, adopted in March 2020, declares the city’s goal to achieve 100% clean, renewable energy in municipal operations and citywide by 2035. 

During a joint CCAB and ESAB meeting on Jan. 22, city staff members suggested that the ordinance’s aims are not realistic or achievable. As such, they currently plan to recommend that commissioners repeal the ordinance and instate a new resolution aiming to attain climate neutrality by 2050. 

At the January meeting, Kathy Richardson, the city’s sustainability director, suggested the city would stay on track by tying the resolution to the county’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, which aims for climate neutrality by 2050 throughout the region.

Douglas County adopted the plan in March 2024, and city commissioners followed suit in October 2024. A new resolution could offer a mechanism to put the wheels of the plan in motion, Richardson had suggested.

Mohsen Fatemi, ESAB board member, has expressed reservations about the plan to abandon the 2020 ordinance.

“I think this is a valuable goal that the city has had and adopted,” Fatemi said during Thursday’s ESAB meeting. “Of course, it has its problems, but the decision to repeal the policy would mean that we don’t want to pursue this goal … and if we’re not replacing it with an actionable plan, then we’re basically dismissing the issue.”

In lieu of scrapping the ordinance, he drafted a proposed amendment.

“One of the problems with the current policy is that the goals are not reasonable, and now we have the opportunity to make them reasonable and also come up with solutions to achieve those goals,” Fatemi said.

His proposal calls for the city to develop stronger language around a renewable energy implementation plan with clear milestones; to devise clear a financing strategy and a possible connected fund; and to provide regular, public reports on progress, among other enhancements.

Although all board members agreed that they wanted to hold the city accountable to clearly delineated sustainability milestones — or to create a policy with “more teeth,” as many said — some questioned whether they should work on the city or county level.

Joshua Roundy, ESAB member, asked why they wouldn’t focus on the county’s goals, if everyone agreed they were strong aims.

“We need to, yes, consider all those action items that we have in the county’s climate action plan,” Fatemi said. “But still, they are goals. We need actionable steps.”

Two people gave public comment, both in favor of keeping the ordinance.

Former State Rep. Christina Haswood spoke in favor of the ordinance as a program director with the The Climate + Energy Project.

“The adoption of the 2020 ordinance has shown to help steer the city of Lawrence in the right direction in regards to the goal of reaching 100% renewable energy,” Haswood said. “Whether that be the usage of electric buses or adding rooftop solar to city buildings, the community values the efforts made in reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.”

She continued, saying that the city could simply revisit the ordinance to resolve concerns about implementation and fiscal responsibility.

Kay Johnson is a former ESAB member who was on the board when the ordinance was originally codified. She provided attendees with a history of the ordinance, which grew out of a board recommendation that called for an action plan, staff responsibility, annual review and board oversight.

“So there were some really concrete things that were recommended to the city administration as well as the commissioners,” Johnson said.

She said roadblocks popped up as COVID peaked and the sustainability office, once a joint effort between the city and county, was split.

“The city did not develop its own action plan, and that’s what needed to have happened, in my opinion, to get the ordinance off the dime,” Johnson said. “The City of Lawrence has always been ahead of Douglas County and has been working on this for several decades … My recommendation is that and not be repealed, that it be kept and enforced but amended to include real specific things, and including greenhouse gas emissions information.”

She said the ordinance can dovetail into the overarching goals of the county climate plan, but repealing it could create challenges across departments like Municipal Services and Operations and Lawrence Transit, which include reference to the ordinance in their guidelines.

Richardson said that city staff members had not made a recommendation to the commission yet, as the work session on the ordinance was deferred from February to April. She encouraged the board to provide feedback for that work session, even if it conflicted with staff’s leanings.

ESAB members plan to write a one-page letter recommending an amendment to the ordinance, and ask that the city work with the community and the board throughout the drafting process. The board will review a draft of the letter during their March meeting.

ESAB’s next meeting is currently set for Thursday, March 26. A recording of their Thursday meeting is posted on the city’s YouTube page.

Wulfe Wulfemeyer (they/them), reporter and news editor, has worked with The Lawrence Times since May 2025. They can be reached at wulfe@lawrencekstimes.com.

Read their complete bio here. Read their work for the Times here.

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