CLIMATE PROTECTION AGREEMENT MILESTONE

Mayor Gavin Newsome of San Francisco, California views installation of electric vehicle charging stations at San Francisco City Hall.
Photo courtesy of San Francisco Office of the Mayor, published in the New York Times, February 19, 2009.

1,000 USA Cities Now Support Reducing Greenhouse Gases Emissions

As of Friday, October 2, 2009, one thousand mayors nationwide in the USA have signed the

U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.

The 1,000 mayors represent approximately 86.3 million USA citizens from the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

The United States Conference of Mayors
The Voice of America’s Mayors in Washington, D.C.

Seattle, Washington Mayor Greg Nickels launched the initiative on February 16, 2005 as a grassroots effort to reduce greenhouse gases emissions. Nickels recognized that his effort was necessary because at the time our federal government was not seen to be acting forcefully on the threats of excessive greenhouse gases emissions.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels
Photo courtesy of Office of the Mayor
Published in Environment News Service, September 30, 2009

The U.S. Conference of Mayors for decades “…has formally adopted and actively promoted policy positions on a range of issues affecting energy production and use…” together with impacts on our environment.

Lobbying by our nation’s mayors led to $2.7 billion in block grants authorized in 2009 by the federal government for states, municipalities and native tribes for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Continuing authority for such grants – again the result of lobbying by our mayors – is embodied in the federal climate change legislation recently introduced by USA Senators John F. Kerry and Barbara Boxer.

The Kerry-Boxer Bill is cited as
“The American Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act”

The stated intention of the bill is:
“To create clean energy jobs, promote energy independence, reduce global warming pollution, and transition to a clean energy economy.”

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels upholds that energy and economic solutions must come from the top 100 metropolitan areas of the USA. These areas represent seventy-five percent (75%) of our nation’s gross domestic product, and consume the bulk of domestic and imported energy resources.

The United States Conference of Mayors released a report on Friday, October 2, 2009 that lists city-by-city accomplishments in energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements. The 52-page report is entitled:

“The Power of 86 Million Americans: 1,000 Mayors Committed to Climate Action – Selected Profiles of Mayoral Leadership.”

The report highlights specific actions being taken in our nation’s municipalities ranging from “…changing city fleets to alternative fuel vehicles, to retrofitting city-owned buildings with energy efficient technology to collecting methane gas from landfills for electricity use.”

Notable results include:

• Seattle, Washington reducing its 1990 carbon footprint by eight percent (8%) in 2005,
• Los Angeles, California reaching its Kyoto Protocol greenhouse gases reduction targets in 2008, four years ahead of schedule,
• Boson, Massachusetts increasing its solar power capacity by three hundred percent (300%),
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania adopting a plan to retrofit one hundred thousand (100,000) homes with energy-savings features during the next seven years, and
• Cleveland, Ohio setting a standard of converting to twenty-five percent (25 %) of its electricity consumption to be provided by renewable energy sources.

The United States Conference of Mayors believes that our mayors are “…on the front lines of impacting human behavior…” on a wide variety of issues, including those of energy and greenhouse gases emissions reduction. In this regard, comments from the group’s September 30, 2009 Press Release are instructive:

“Global warming is real and demands our immediate response. It is in our national interest to act now and exhibit our global leadership."

“We are especially pleased that the Senate has responded to our request that the bill include a provision for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant. By doing this, these Senate leaders are acknowledging the important role cities play in creating green jobs and achieving energy independence and climate protection. The Conference has worked long and hard to establish this innovative program as a cornerstone of our national climate protection strategy."

“In these hard economic times, we know that many people are without jobs and are struggling. This bill will help jump start new green industries that will create new jobs at a time when they are desperately needed. These green jobs are the future of our economic competitiveness.”


Earth At Night: The Lights Of North America

Source: "Earth from Space: The Human Presence"
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Data (1994-1995) compiled courtesy of Marc Imhoff, Craig Mayhew, and Robert Simmon, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center and Christopher Elvidge, NOAA/National Geophysical Data Center