The Grand Marais Public Library will host two Climate Action Plan presentations from Olya Wright, Naomi Tracy-Hegg, and Martine Redshaw, on Wednesday, February 28, from 4:00 to 5:00 PM and on Saturday, March 2, from 11 AM to 12 PM.

Related: Cook County Teen Activists Olya Wright and Naomi Tracy-Hegg worked to pass a climate resolution in 2022. Where are we a year later?

In 2019, these local youth activists worked with the City of Grand Marais to draft and pass a Climate Action Plan. Then, in 2020, Wright and Tracy-Hegg worked with the county to pass a Climate Emergency Resolution. Joined by their friend Martine Redshaw, Wright and Tracy-Hegg are back in 2024, looking to pass a Cook County Climate Action Plan (CAP) that would address Cook County's greenhouse gas emissions.

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The first step toward a county CAP is passing a resolution committing the county to writing it. The three activists have been working with County Commissioner Ann Sullivan to draft this resolution, and they need momentum from the community to pass it. “The most impactful thing that you can do,” say Wright, Tracy-Hegg, and Redshaw, “is to show up to the board meeting where they present the resolution in March (date TBD).”

These presentations are free and open to the public. The presenters will be on hand before the Wednesday presentation and after the Saturday presentation to answer questions and provide more information on how to help.

In other news, the library has two author talks coming up in March. On March 6, Staci Drouillard will present on Chippewa City Home and the History of Small Places, and on March 20, Barbara Mack of Brainerd, MN will give an author talk on her book, The Hand I’ve been Dealt: a Life Lived with Epilepsy. Both talks run from 6-7:30 PM. For more information about these programs, call the library at 218-387-1140 or visit our website: www.grandmaraislibrary.org.