Environmental justice advocates press council to cite environmental equity investigation in the comprehensive plan

The Evanston Environmental Justice Coalition and partner organizations urged the City Council on July 21 to reference the city-funded Environmental Equity Investigation (EEI) in the Envision Evanston comprehensive plan.

Jack Jordan, executive director of Climate Action Evanston, said the EEI—funded by the city after a 2020 environmental-justice resolution and presented recently to community members—provides “nuanced” neighborhood-level data on tree canopy discrepancies, air pollution, flooding and housing costs. Jordan told the council that the consultant team’s work shows differences “down to the average inch of tree diameter” across wards and that including the EEI in the plan would ensure those inequities are addressed in long-term goals and policy actions.

Jordan said the EEI findings justify only small wording changes in the plan—"merely a few sentences," he told the council—to ensure the city uses the investigation’s data in future policies.

Why it matters: The EEI maps and data could be used to target investments—tree canopy, stormwater management, neighborhood green space and air-quality interventions—to places historically disadvantaged by land-use decisions. Advocates asked the council to integrate the EEI now so that the comp plan’s long-range policies reflect the investigation’s findings.

Ending: The council did not take an immediate vote to insert EEI references; advocates said they would send a formal letter describing where in the comp plan the EEI should be cited.