Councilmember Meeka D. Owens on Climate Change and Green Sustainability in Cincinnati
Among the items on the city hall desk of Councilmember Meeka D. Owens is a copy of The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman. I am reminded of another poem by Gorman – Earthrise, which was dedicated to the Climate Reality Project. A section of the poem goes:
We’ve known
That we’re caught in the throes
Of climactic changes some say
Will just go away,
While some simply pray
To survive another day;
For it is the obscure, the oppressed, the poor,
Who when the disaster
Is declared done,
Still suffer more than anyone.Climate change is the single greatest challenge of our time,
Of this, you’re certainly aware.
It’s saddening, but I cannot spare you
From knowing an inconvenient fact, because
It’s getting the facts straight that gets us to act and not to wait.
The daily weather report is becoming more like a historical marker. The extreme heat of a July day will tell you what year you are in, as will the tornadoes and hurricanes tearing a path across the South. The Cincinnati summers are getting hotter; our Midwest winters are more brutal – and it is disproportionately impacting Black and brown residents of the city.
In December 2021, after the city council and mayoral elections, it was announced that a new committee would be tackling climate change in our city: the Climate, Environment and Infrastructure Committee, with Councilmember Meeka D. Owens as its chair.
When I sat down with Councilmember Owens, it was clear that she is passionate and knowledgeable about the environmental issues we are all having to face – but beyond that, she is hopeful. She has faith in our people coming together. She sees light in Cincinnati’s future.
Interview by Olivia Taylor. Photos by Angie Lipscomb.
Can you talk about the need to establish the Climate, Environment and Infrastructure committee?
We've all heard about climate change and global warming, and the city is not disassociated from that. We have a council and a mayor who understands that. This is the moment to do something innovative and something that the city has never done before. When we're looking at poor air quality in the city, children's asthma rates in this city, carbon emission – something that we're all responsible for in different sectors – commercial, transportation, this was our moment to be very intentional about our work going forward.
The Green Cincinnati Plan is so leading in the nation, and to be able to elevate the work of green Cincinnati is truly important. The Green Cincinnati Plan is everything from recommendations around vehicle electrification, new build standards, and the built environment; we're making it a priority.
We've been backed by Bloomberg Philanthropies because we've been innovative and they've given us additional support to do things like the solar farm, which is the largest in the country. We're excited to raise awareness of the issue and be very intentional about our work going forward.
It was recently announced that city transportation will be converted to 100% electric vehicles by the year 2035. This is one of the first projects to be executed by the committee. Can you talk a little bit more about the importance of this initiative?
We understand the global impact that carbon emission has on the environment. We're saving the planet while also saving taxpayer dollars in the long run by going electric. We all see and feel how much we're paying at the gas pump. That volatility will always happen, even outside of wartime, because we're talking about resources that are becoming scarce.
When you look at electric vehicles and electrification, the demand will happen as a result of consumers. If someone would describe when the iPhone first came out, it was like, "Oh, this seems cool. Let me check it out." So you have this rapid adoption that's happening over the next couple of years where one in four people will be driving an elective vehicle, so it's going to be very common. The city is leading the adoption and supporting infrastructure for electric vehicles since residents will be driving these cars.
One of the core aspects of this committee is promoting environmental equity. It is a fact that climate change and environmental disasters disproportionately impact Black and brown people. What is the committee doing to fix this problem in Cincinnati?
This is about partnership. I go back to the Green Cincinnati Plan because we don't have to make anything up; we see the advice of experts about this issue. The Green Cincinnati Plan gives us a north star, and every five years, it gets refreshed and updated – it grows from iteration to iteration. What did we learn the last time? In the former iteration, we saw that climate equity work began with partners such as Groundwork Ohio River Valley, and others.
In this next iteration, we will be able to center climate equity in this work. We know that disinvestment in neighborhoods causes things like less tree canopy and more concrete buildings in some communities. So how do we intentionally make sure we're mitigating those things? That's being able to allocate resources based on racial equity prioritization as well as the data and the research, which is so important in how we make policy decisions.
What are some of the long-term initiatives and goals that you're planning on implementing in the future as a part of this community committee?
One of the big things is that because there's a pandemic, we can infuse capital back into municipalities with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, so it's going to have a long-lasting impact as we look at green infrastructure because the infrastructure dollars will help us get there.
When we think about other modes of transportation, being able to invest more in public transport and create a denser city where people are moving here – more walkable neighborhoods, pedestrian safety – the opportunity that we have is really massive. It's because of this infrastructure bill. Those are the long-term projects and everything in between. How can we connect people? How are employers making public transportation of benefit? There's this opportunity for a culture change, and the money coming from the bill is allowing us to achieve it.
This committee is not only focused on reducing carbon emissions but bolstering the economy with more green jobs – can you talk more about what this would look like?
Everything from electricians to folks installing the electric vehicle chargers, installation of solar panels, HVAC replacement, planting trees – in addition to how we invest in young people to be a part of this green economy too. Well, there are public and private opportunities.
In addition, we're looking at advanced manufacturing to produce electric vehicles and items. The sky's the limit, and we have to think about how we prepare for the new economy. So how do we invest in entrepreneurs as well? We're investing in green spaces that include small businesses and plant-based restaurants – how are we incentivizing those things as well? The green economy is really anything that touches on sustainability.
I wanted to touch on green development and specifically Brownfield Redevelopment which allows “our City to reclaim and improve its lands, making previously developed property viable for new development.” This makes our city more walkable and sustainable – but how are you ensuring that this doesn’t create gentrification and push people out of neighborhoods?
That is a conversation that also deals with what our housing policy is. So we've got to make sure that we are incentivizing affordable housing projects in the city. We're doing the groundwork right now to even get to that space.
It's also a matter of what goes back to development. What are our building standards going forward? Because of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, we will have opportunities to join alliances of cities that have the opportunity to regulate what buildings and emissions look like, which can have a huge impact on carbon emissions. You've got a couple of things there: how are we supervising affordable housing, but how are we also adding more green space to our neighborhoods as we think about long-term development.
On that note, how are you engaging with the community to ensure that these initiatives line up with what the residents of Cincinnati actually need?
Going back to the Green Cincinnati Plan – it's all about engagement; it's all about engagement and the money to do it. We were able to take energy savings, and the city gets a rebate every year up to $100,000, and we were able to take that and reinvest it back into sustainability like the Green Cincinnati Plan. Now that we have the climate equity focus, we can engage more people, and more people who were not at the table before can now be at the table.
It's all about input and feedback – the Office of Environment and Sustainability is putting out a survey where people can start to give their feedback, and then it will be structured as we continue to go along.
Tackling climate change seems like such a monumental task – how do you make sure you don’t feel burned out by such a task? What do you do to check in with yourself?
It's all about collaboration and partners. I'm a naturally collaborative person, so I prioritize being able to be in spaces where I'm listening and making informed decisions based on that. So for me, it's leaning on the already established partnerships and creating new ones. My check-in is leaning on other folks and making sure that I support their work by making policy decisions that will have a lasting impact.
Personally, I'm creating boundaries for myself in terms of work-life balance – as a human being, that's important. In a job like this, where there's so much information and so many people and stakeholders that you're connecting to and absorbing, it's easy to go go go, so for me, it's making sure I'm taking that mental health moment. And of course, working collaboratively across the council – you can't get everything done as an individual; it takes partnerships.
Who are women who are influential to you?
There are so many on a local level. Yesterday [March 23], we honored Judge Nadine L. Allen, the first Black woman elected countywide in our court system. I think about people like her, who center justice in her work as a judge as well as in her retired years as an advocate for voting rights.
On a national scale, Stacey Abrams demonstrates the value of not only being an elected official but someone who has elevated civic engagement, such as protecting voting rights. Oprah Winfrey has always been an inspiration for me as a woman, businesswoman, leader, and philanthropist. The list can go on and on and on. I think about Nancy Pelosi, the dynamic woman she is; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – young people who allow us to think differently about politics and social justice.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
When we're talking about climate equity, this is a moment in time that is so important for people like myself, people that look like me, who have not been a part of the conversation, to make them a part of this global conversation and to do it in a way that meets people where they're at. This is the transformation I think we are all looking for.
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