By Lisa Scheid, Reading Eagle, May 26, 2020.
Reading’s path to committing to 100% renewable energy began almost four years ago with a worried community college writing professor.
Stephanie Anderson of Reading Area Community College found herself looking for a way to make a difference as the U.S. looked to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement. She joined the Sierra Club. Soon she was spending hours each week educating herself and community members and leaders in Berks County about the environmental organization’s national push for renewable energy called Ready for 100.
“It became a labor of love very quickly,” Anderson said.
Her outreach became a group: Reading for 100.
By June, City Council voted to commit the city’s residents and businesses to 100% renewable energy by 2050. It was a significant and visible step toward a climate action plan that some say could boost Reading’s economic development prospects.
Photo caption/credit: LED street lights at Court Street between Second and Third streets are energy efficient.