The DeKalb Green New Deal, a localized version of the Biden administration’s broader policies that champion sustainability and clean energy, just hit another milestone. On Sept. 17, a 100 percent Clean Energy and Transportation Transition Plan was presented to the DeKalb County Operations (OPS) Committee, outlining a path forward for DeKalb to transition away from fossil fuels.
Commissioner Ted Terry of Super District 6 in DeKalb, lead advocate of the work, was elected in 2020 and ran in-part on advocating for the DeKalb Green New Deal, which to-date has passed “20 climate action policies, resolutions and initiatives,” according to his team.
“Any local green new deal is really whatever is best for the local community,” Terry said. “So our Green New Deal is specifically a DeKalb Green New Deal — it’s what we think we can do with our own resources, our own land, our own people.”
The resolution for the DeKalb Green New Deal was adopted in 2021. After a lengthy request for proposal period that started in December of that year, Southface eventually won the project with the county and has been working with Commissioner Terry on the DeKalb Green New Deal since 2023. The plan announced last week is the result of that work.
“[Southface] actually had their first community engagement summit around this time last year at our first DeKalb Green New Deal Summit,” Terry said. “And of course, earlier [last] week, they presented — after many months and thousands of surveys and hundreds of community engagement conversations — presented this first draft of this transition plan.”
When the resolution for the DeKalb Green New Deal was first introduced in 2021, the goal was to commit DeKalb County to 100 percent clean energy and transportation by 2050 — not just the county buildings and vehicles, but everyone, Terry said. Their plan has stuck by that.
This first draft of the plan is over 100 pages long, diving into greenhouse gas emissions in DeKalb and our currency energy production portfolio. Terry acknowledges we have “a long way to go,” but is also excited to see the country address some of the lowest hanging fruit.
“There’s things that we could be doing almost immediately that would not only get us towards that clean energy transportation goal, but it would begin to save taxpayers millions of dollars,” Terry said.
Some of those low hanging fruits include installing solar panels on homes and government buildings, making homes more energy efficient, and encouraging electric vehicle adoption. In fact, doing these in accordance with the estimates outlined in the plan would increase the country’s clean energy mix from around 10 percent to 25 percent, according to Terry.
This year’s DeKalb Green New Deal Festival is set for Nov. 9, in collaboration with the DeKalb County Planning and Sustainability Department celebrating World Planning Day. Attendees will be able to engage with Terry and other DeKalb Green New Deal advocates and learn more about the steps forward.
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