Duluth Hires First Ever Sustainability Officer To Combat Climate Change

Duluth Mayor Emily Larson announced that she wanted to add a Sustainability Officer Position to the city staff's roster during her State of the City address last April and now that position has been filled. Mindy Granley has been chosen for the job after being at the University of Minnesota in Duluth for the past 12 years in a similar position.

The city received 66 applications from around the country, but Mayor Larson said Granley stood out from the crowd because of her accomplishments on the job at UMD. Mayor Larson held a Press Conference yesterday and said ""The purpose of this position is to lead our resiliency efforts within the city of Duluth, in partnership with our new Energy Plan Commission ... in partnership as well with our city departments and the community to develop, implement and monitor progress on our comprehensive energy sustainability strategies across the city of Duluth."

Meanwhile Granley said " I'm joining a team here at the city that's already working on sustainability, from reducing energy use to carbon to protecting water quality in our streams and Lake Superior. So, I really look forward to helping amplify those efforts. But more importantly, I'll be a liaison and a partner from the city in communitywide action on climate change, which is sort of a lifelong goal for me."

As a resident of the city of Duluth I am happy to see a position like this now part of the makeup of city staff. We need to continue to protect this beautiful little piece of the world and to also all do our part in being as efficient as possible with our resources. For more on this story click here.