Cleaning up Northeast Florida's Climate Pollution with Judy Holm

Welcome back! We've got a little bit of a different episode in store for you today - and it's brought to you in partnership with the Jacksonville Climate Coalition.  Last month, the Coalition hosted a virtual meeting to learn about the steps that Jacksonville and other local governments are taking to apply for the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant or the CPRG.  We ended up covering quite a few topics that we thought you might be interested in, so in today's episode, we're presenting excerpts of this conversation. 

As you'll hear the team at the city is working really quickly - so quickly in fact that some of the dates you'll hear referenced have already passed between when we recorded and now. But the city is still soliciting feedback - and in the episode we cover how you can provide comments directly to the team.

Our guest was Judy Holm, Fuse Executive Fellow with the City of Jacksonville who is working with the sustainability department led by Ashanta Green. James Richardson with the city's environmental protection board also joined in the discussion.

We were very lucky to have both of them on the call. And we hope that you enjoyed the conversation!

RESOURCES:
DRAFT Priority Climate Action Plan
https://cleanairnortheastflorida.com/get-involved

CONTACT:
cprg@coj.net

Jacksonville Climate Coalition

Transcript

Climate Action in Jacksonville

Lori Ann Santamaria 0:01

Welcome to Sustainable North Florida . I'm your host , Lori Ann Santamaria .

Judy Holm 0:07

That is the beginning of a huge sea change for the city of Jacksonville . Many cities in Florida still do not have any voices for climate change , for historic reasons .

Lori Ann Santamaria 0:22

Welcome back . We've got a little bit of a different episode in store for you today , and it's brought to you in partnership with the Jacksonville Climate Coalition . Last month , the Coalition hosted a virtual meeting to learn about the steps that Jacksonville and other local governments are taking to apply for the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant , or the CPRG . We ended up covering quite a few topics that we thought you might be interested in , so in today's episode we're presenting excerpts of this conversation . As you'll hear , the team at the city is working really quickly . So quickly , in fact , that some of the dates you'll hear referenced have already passed between when we recorded and now . But the city is still soliciting feedback and in the episode we cover how you can provide comments directly to the team . Our guest was Judy Holm, Fuse Executive Fellow with the city of Jacksonville, who is working with the sustainability department led by Ashantae Green . James Richardson , with the city's Environmental Protection Board , also joined in the discussion . We were very lucky to have both of them on the call and we hope that you enjoy the conversation . Thank you to everybody for joining us this evening .

Lori Ann Santamaria 1:24

This is the first event of the year for the Jacksonville Climate Coalition . I'm your host , Lori Ann Santamaria , and I'm also the chair of the Climate Coalition . Our guest today is Judy Holm . Judy is the Fuse Executive Fellow for the city of Jacksonville and I'll let her describe exactly what that means . I met Judy for the first time over the phone a few weeks ago and I came away from that conversation honestly very impressed with the depth of her knowledge in the field of climate change . But I'm also really excited that the city was able to find someone with so much experience and such a passion to fill this role , and I hope that you guys will agree - I think that you will after this conversation . Judy , I'm not quite sure that I can do your background justice . So , with that , if you could just tell the group a little bit about yourself , your background and how you got to Jacksonville , please .

Judy Holm 2:08

Thank you , Lori Ann , and it's lovely to e- meat all of you . I'm super excited to have my colleague , James Richardson , online as well . So basically I was recruited by this national nonprofit called Fuse and was really excited to get the call because Fuse typically pairs people considered sort of corporate execs , which I guess I qualify as 30 years plus , you know big banks and big beauty companies and a lot of consulting in different arenas , including the arts . So kind of right brain , left brain , but basically what Fuse does is bring in corporate background people to pair with cities to focus on a certain project , an individual specific project , and I'm in the cohort of the fall 2023 . We're all across the country . So my background again I'm an economist , I have an MBA , I worked in international business for many years .

Judy Holm 3:07

When I began to realize how dramatic the situation of climate change is , I said I have one more client for the rest of my life and her name is Mother Earth . And so I went online to MIT Sloan Center for Sustainability to get my credentials in climate change and basically , with a corporate background , I've been consulting with businesses in terms of how to improve their carbon footprint and also how to be authentic about what they're doing to get to net zero and , as Lori Ann mentioned , yes , I'm hugely passionate about trying to do what I can to help make a difference , in any way . So when I had this opportunity to come to Jacksonville , I said yes , yes , 100% . So here I am, I've spent three months . The assignment originally was to work on a climate action plan and a new opportunity surfaced which is called the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant . We're doing our best to try and get the most money (I also happen to be very competitive) trying to get the most money possible for Jacksonville and the five surrounding counties , and that's what it's all about .

Lori Ann Santamaria 4:14

So what is the City of Jacksonville doing ? What are we doing with respect to sustainability and addressing climate change ?

Judy Holm 4:19

Well , I first want to recognize my esteemed colleagues James Richardson and Ashantae Green . Ashantae and I , unbeknownst to each of us , started on the same day , which was November 1st . I was originally brought in to work with Ann Cogilanese as the Chief Resiliency Officer , as Fuse Executive Fellow and then , knowing that Ashante was hired kind of simultaneously as when I was brought in with her new role . I don't know if you all know this , but the first ever , it's a big deal , first ever sustainability manager for the city of Jacksonville . It's a big step , it's a really big step and kudos to Mayor Deegan and to the entire administration for doing this , for enacting the sustainability office .

Judy Holm 5:06

Resiliency is important but that's kind of like a you have to like fix the messes sort of , or prepare for messes and fix the messes . So that's what resiliency is . I it's one of the questions we're goign to talk about, but that is the beginning of a huge sea change for the City of Jacksonville . Many cities in Florida still do not have any , any spokesv oice , spokes people or voices for climate change , for historic reasons , you know , because of state government and state beliefs . So I think it's amazing and already the work of Ashantae and James Richardson , who somehow has been pulled in magically to add gravitas with his depth of knowledge of the community and all that he does in the environmental quality division for the city . It's a huge change , huge change for the city and and budgets will be created , grants . This is we're going . We're going after a grant . There will be other grants , there will be other ways of looking at how to communicate to all stakeholders for involvement from top-down to , hopefully , policies .

Lori Ann Santamaria 6:16

With the climate action plan , which you've mentioned briefly . I know we're working towards that , but what are the steps that you need to take in order to develop this climate action plan ?

Judy Holm 6:24

Right . So for climate action plan , the idea is to have an actual plan that says here are all the things with prioritization , all the steps , all the components , all the departments , that inside the city and also with both households , residents , companies , everyone . So climate action plan will result in that - we hope it's going to be a year which is kind of common across the United States . So it depends on how quickly , we're able to garner resources , both human resources and financial , to get to a climate action plan .

Lori Ann Santamaria 7:03

What's the information that you need in order to develop that plan , like , what's the starting point that you say okay , this is where our missions are coming from . These are the changes that I need to make .

Judy Holm 7:12

Great question , Lori Ann . Typically it would be a route , an audit , essentially , of every aspect of every internal operation through the city's lens . Well , actually , what has what's been kind of a mixed blessing is this climate pollution reduction grant . We are fast- tracking these questions . The grant is through the EPA and it has very specific criteria , very specific quantifications that are required . So we're all jumping through hoops, like I've barely ever done in my entire life , you know , to try to make this happen , to try to get the money .

Judy Holm 7:46

So greenhouse gas emissions is basically how much energy are we using ? How many emissions are we polluting into our environment ? Right , and it's scientific , it's measurable , but it is very entailed and detailed . It's a bottoms up operation . So those are literal carbon metric tons of GHG emissions . So the city of Jacksonville and a lot of Florida hasn't had the support or the leadership to say we're going to do this . And now we have it . So , basically , thanks to an incredible consultancy firm that was brought in through this grant process their company's name is Hanson and they have just finished first ever inventory calculations , bottoms up for the city of Jacksonville , duval County and the four surrounding Northeast Florida counties . It's a really big step forward .

Lori Ann Santamaria 8:42

Yeah , that's a really big deal . I didn't realize that that was done already . Is that publicly available ? Yes it will be on Friday . That's amazing . Thank you , yes .

Judy Holm 8:51

Yes , very excited .

Lori Ann Santamaria 8:52

Yeah . So one of my questions was what is the status of the Jacksonville's greenhouse gas inventory ? I guess you just covered it . It's ready to go , okay . Okay , so we've talked a little bit about the climate action plan . I know that's very much a work in progress , but what is the latest of Jacksonville's work on the climate action plan ?

Judy Holm 9:09

The climate action plan as such is a little bit backburner . The immediacy of the climate pollution reduction grant . It's all of all of the ideas that are being generated through this very short timeline Process , which we did an open call . Basically , I called it open call for submissions of ideas , of measures to what do you want , what do you stakeholders all over the five counties want ? We did , I think , a really good job outreaching , but we didn't capture everyone . We also maybe didn't capture enough top-down ideas because just of the timing , like the machine .

Judy Holm 9:50

This all since right before Christmas , by the way , that this has been happening . It's really a short timeline . The EPA this is through the EPA . They realize it's short timeline , but they also are committed to reviewing the grant process , making decisions this summer and distributing the monies in October , which for me I think it's a great thing , because who knows what's going to happen with this year's elections . The point being Climate Action Plan , it's as such is a little bit backburnered , but the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant is the , I would say , a first huge step forward

Climate Action Plan for Jacksonville

Judy Holm 10:26

. Into here are things that are priorities for Jacksonville and the surrounding , a metropolitan statistical area , aka the MSA .

Lori Ann Santamaria 10:37

One question that I've heard asked a few times with respect to the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant is are these federal funds going to be available for Jacksonville , knowing that some of the funds from the IRA were state by state and dependent on which state accepted them and did not ?

Judy Holm 10:51

Great question , loryanne . So it's $4.6 billion that are available . Every state was invited to participate , every MSA was invited to participate Florida and three other states , as states declined participation . So the MSAs of Florida independently are competing , and also 120 or 130 other MSAs around the country and 46 states of the United States . It's a competition , people , it is a true competition .

Lori Ann Santamaria 11:27

So Judy , there are a couple of questions in the chat related to what are the specific types of programs that we're exploring in Jacksonville .

Judy Holm 11:35

Great question . So for this grant , it's everything that relates to climate change . This grant , specifically , is about the number of GHG emission reductions and that was my point number one of what they're looking for . Number two is the LIDAC lens extremely important , relevant and necessary in my opinion . Can you explain that please ? Yes , so LIDAC is low-income disadvantaged communities , as is prevalent across the globe . The people who have done the least to create the mess are bearing the worst burden . So we are going to do our best to prioritize . We're going to get better scores the more we do to prioritize and show the measures that are bringing the most change to LIDAC communities .

Judy Holm 12:26

It's very much part of the DNA of this grant . Another thing that's extremely important is ROI , thank you . So ROI meaning return on investment . So there are a lot of incredibly important measures in transportation , for example , creating roads , creating mass transit systems . Those are expensive propositions . The GH and electrifying fleets , electrifying vehicles . They're all necessary initiatives to get to net zero , but the return on investment and how quickly , like the 2025 to 2030 lens is very important for this particular grant .

Lori Ann Santamaria 13:07

So the ROI that you're speaking of is not traditional ROI from a dollar's perspective , but it's the return that you're going to get . How much greenhouse gas emissions are you going to abate , given any dollar that you invest Right exactly ? Is there any way for people to get involved ? Is there still time for that , given the deadlines that you're working with ?

Judy Holm 13:26

Another great question , lauren by March 1st we , and everyone else around the country , have to submit by March 1st , a document called the PCAP Preliminary Climate Action Plan for this grant , and it will be as many measures as we want to include . And why that's really important is because all of everything that's in the PCAP can be eligible for what goes in the longer term version , which is called the PCAP , the Comprehensive Climate Action Plan , which is basically a three to four year horizon . We do not have time to have all the numbers by March 1st , but , yes , involvement in what priorities , what measures are important to you , what you think are going to move the meter Absolutely , and that's what's starting on .

Lori Ann Santamaria 14:17

Friday . So on Friday , the greenhouse gas inventory , as well as our preliminary PCAP , or preliminary climate action plan , will be available .

Judy Holm 14:28

Draft yes , and that's when every single person on this call . Every single person you know , every company you know , say oh , like this , don't like this . We need to know the why . The more you can say the why something's good , better or worse , it's just more logical for people to understand the rationale . Just , I don't like this or I do like this .

Judy Holm 14:51

So it's not a popularity contest , this is a numbers competition . The end game is what's called the implementation grant and that happens . The due date for that is April 1st . April 1st , everything we've articulated with the dollar ask . So we might have 40 measures in the PCAP when we go to the implementation grant .

Judy Holm 15:16

We might strategically want to be in the middle tier money wise , because realistically , can we compete against the state of California and some of the Massachusetts ? You know , some of the other big states that have been doing this for years and years ? I mean , yeah , jacksonville could absolutely use $500 million . Of course we could . But how realistic ? Because once you're considered in that tier , it's like a competition right , like being your weight class right . You have to be in your weight class . We got to define what our weight class is , if you will . But so we have to be strategic also about the tier dollars-wise that we're going for . Does that make sense ? This is one of the ways that we're letting you know and we'll continue to do more official outreach .

Judy Holm 15:58

But there's a website that has gone live called Clean Air North East Florida and the name was very intentional because a couple things One , we're the lead in our MSA for the five counties for this grant , so as much as I'm like "Team Jacksonville , it doesn't have Jacksonville name in it per se . And also for the sensitivity to a lot of the population who don't know what climate change is and they also don't . You know , some counties are still kind of like , not really that far along . So Clean Air we can all relate to Clean Air right and it is a climate pollution which is very connected to air right . So the name was very intentional and it will link to the city of Jacksonville's main website soon .

Judy Holm 16:45

But on the website it's meant to be very simple right now . But there the first thing is , you know , sign up . Second thing is take a survey if you want . It's like a very minimalistic survey , but also ask any question and when- James and I and Ashantae are the ones who get the email, so when we say we're involved , we are involved ! So please do , please do ask questions , please do bring opinions and insights , cause we absolutely , that's what we want . That's the website is meant to be one of the vehicles , that is , you know , it's a 24/7 voice . A quick , shameless plug here for the Jacksonville Climate Coalition .

Lori Ann Santamaria 17:24

You are listening to a recording of a live event that was hosted by the Coalition . Learn more on our website at www . jaxclimate . org . There you can sign up for our newsletter or , even better , check out our Slack channel . There you can connect with others in the community who want to make an impact on climate change . You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram . Welcome back to the remainder of the recording , where James Richardson , with the City's Environmental Protection Board , provides some more specifics about the CPRG and how to get involved .

James Richardson 17:59

I don't have anything to add much . I just want to applaud Judy for the work that she has been doing and I think she's done a good job in articulating it . Judy referenced the website . One of the things I shared with Lori Ann is something I say to Judy once or twice a week . We are building a bicycle while we're riding it , so we are trying to assemble as much information for these various deadlines that we're working with , but also trying to find a way to push the information out . So a couple of quick things Judy's mentioned .

James Richardson 18:37

It's not just a climate action plan for Jacksonville . The EPA award was to the Jacksonville MSA , so it is more of a regional Climate Action Plan and we've added in the City of Palm Coast . So it's Jacksonville , Duval , Clay , Nassau , St . Johns and Baker Counties , along with the City of Palm Coast we've referenced . This preliminary Climate Action Plan has a lot of information . It'll be available Friday . We have a listening session that you can register to attend on Friday where we'll be sharing the P-CAP , as we call it , which will include the measures sort of lay the case , if you will for how the region will tackle reducing greenhouse gases in our area , and those measures will then be, more work done on them , but they'll be incorporated in an implementation grant that we will send off to the EPA on April 1st . So what we're looking for now is for the community to Give us input on the .

James Richardson 20:00

You know what climate action means to you . What does greenhouse gases and Reducing them mean to you ? What's important to you ? Is it important to you that we increase the number of electric vehicles in the region ? Is it important to you that we only build buildings that are LEED or other green certification levels ? Those kinds of things are what we want to hear . We're planning both in-person sessions in February , and then we'll also be doing another series in March , so hopefully you can go to that website and sign up for those updates .

Judy Holm 20:45

I have a good question , yeah , so the implementation grant will be submitted on April 1st . I was wondering if there was like a kind of knowledge of when news will be heard back on what grants will be funded . Yes , it's the summer , they don't give an actual date , but it is the summer , this summer , and the monies will be distributed in October . Definitive , I know , it's amazing .

James Richardson 21:08

Thank you

Community Engagement in Climate Action

James Richardson 21:09

.

Lori Ann Santamaria 21:09

Well , thank you guys so much . Thank you everybody for your time . Thank you , Judy and James for for joining us on this call and educating us on everything that that you guys are doing . It's really exciting to see so much , so much activity . I know you're building the bike as you're trying to ride it and looking forward to seeing that greenhouse gas inventory when it comes out . And thank you all for taking the time out to attend and listen to the session as well . I appreciate that . Have a good evening everybody .

Judy Holm 21:32

And thank you . Lori Ann Thank you for organizing . Thank you so much .

Lori Ann Santamaria 21:35

Yes , Lori Ann , thanks , thank you . Take care , guys . Hopefully you found this to be a good introduction to what the city of Jacksonville and the other local governments in our region are doing to go after the funds available through the EPA's Climate Pollution Reduction Grant . Check out the show notes for a link to the draft climate action plan . As you heard , the team is actively seeking feedback from the community , and you can provide yours through the short survey on the Clean Air Northeast Florida website or by emailing cprg@ coj . net . All of that will be in the show notes as well .

Lori Ann Santamaria 22:09

We appreciate Judy and James for sharing their time and insight today . And now: our one good thing . Talking about climate change in Northeast Florida can sometimes be hard , really hard . It might seem like others around you don't care, at least I know I've felt that way . But a recent poll showed that 66% of Duval County residents are concerned about climate change . In fact , 62% of residents believe that our local officials should be doing more to address global warming . So you're in the majority . Knowing that you're not alone is powerful , so have those conversations with your neighbors . They'll likely be more receptive than you anticipated . The more we normalize the conversation , the easier it will be to push our local lawmakers to rise to action and follow through on the recommendations of the climate action plan that we discussed today .