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Greensboro's first chief sustainability officer discusses climate goals

Shree Dorestant began her new role as the City of Greensboro's Chief Sustainability Officer in June 2022. Screenshot KERI BROWN/WFDD

Shree Dorestant began her new role as the City of Greensboro's Chief Sustainability Officer in June 2022.  Screenshot KERI BROWN/WFDD

The City of Greensboro recently hired its first chief sustainability officer. The role will be important in helping the city meet its renewable energy and climate goals.

Shree Dorestant has been on the job since early June. She’s no stranger to the city. Prior to her most recent role at the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, she worked for Greensboro’s Water Resources Department.

As the city’s first Chief Sustainability Officer, she has some tall orders. Greensboro is trying to find pathways for transitioning city operations to 100 percent clean, renewable energy by 2040.

It’s part of the city’s proposed strategic energy plan, which also calls for finding ways to use solar on city buildings and electrifying the city’s transportation fleet.

“This is a snapshot too of, you know, the city saying 'hey this is what the city is doing' and then it broadening out to a more of an entire city stance on sustainability," she says. "So this is just the beginning of what I feel we are going to do.”

Dorestant says Greensboro just received another grant to buy an additional electric bus, and discussions are underway about adding more electric vehicle charging stations in the city.

She says any plan that’s implemented will also keep equity in mind to make sure improvements are affordable and distributed evenly throughout the city.

Her next step is getting the city council to adopt the strategic energy plan. She expects to present it to council members in October.

Follow WFDD's  Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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