Petaluma Cool Cities campaign kicks off

Petaluma’s Cool City Challenge moonshot team will soon launch its campaign to help Petaluma reach carbon neutrality by 2030.

The launch will officially set sail in a virtual event at 6 p.m. Jan. 12.

Cool Petaluma’s launch event follows months of effort by Natasha Juliana, a local business owner; D’Lynda Fischer, a city council member; and partners to secure a $1 million grant and consulting support from the Cool City Challenge, a program of the Empowerment Institute.

Petaluma is one of three California cities that won Cool City Challenge grants, along with Los Angeles and Irvine.

In order to win the grant, Juliana, Fischer and team recruited 200 Cool Block leaders, 25 community partners, and wrote a plan for Petaluma to reach carbon neutrality by 2030 without offsets.

Residents can register for the virtual launch event at http://coolpetaluma.org/kickoff.

Amelia Parreira is a staff writer for the Argus-Courier. She can be reached at amelia.parreira@arguscourier.com or 707-521-5208.