[Mb-civic] Earth Policy News - U.S. Mayors Respond to Climate Leadership Vacuum

[Linda Hassler]

As the Burlington mayor says, "We can't wait for this leadership vacuum 
to fill."

Eco-Economy Update 2006-3
For Immediate Release
May 3, 2006


U.S. Mayors Respond to Washington Leadership Vacuum on Climate Change

http://www.earthpolicy.org/Updates/2006/Update53.htm


Janet Larsen


Recognizing that global warming may fast be approaching the point of no
return and that the world cannot wait for the U.S. government to act,
hundreds of U.S. city mayors have pledged to cut emissions of greenhouse
gases. By signing the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, these
mayors—representing some 44 million Americans—have committed their 
cities
to meet or beat the U.S. emissions reduction target in the Kyoto 
Protocol,
despite the federal government’s refusal to ratify that treaty.

This grassroots political revolution, spearheaded by Greg Nickels, Mayor
of Seattle, Washington, and endorsed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors,
responds to the mounting concerns of the American people. It calls for
reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 
2012.
As Burlington, Vermont, Mayor Peter Clavelle noted: “We can't wait for
this vacuum of leadership to fill.”

Since February 16, 2005, the date the Kyoto Protocol came into effect 
for
the 141 countries that ratified it, 227 U.S. cities have joined the
mayors’ agreement, including New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, the 
three
largest cities. The Northeast, the Great Lakes Region, and the West 
Coast
are particularly well represented, and the list keeps growing. (See map
and additional data at
www.earthpolicy.org/Updates/2006/Update53_data.htm.)

The group includes both communities with an eye on global problems and
those concerned about climate-related impacts closer to home. For 
example,
a dozen coastal Florida cities that risk destruction from storms and
rising seas have signed on. Mayor Ray Nagin noted a similar concern when
adding New Orleans to the agreement, stating that “the rise of the 
Earth's
temperature, causing sea level increases that could add up to one foot
[30.5 centimeters] over the next 30 years, threatens the very existence 
of
New Orleans”—and this was before Hurricane Katrina.

The cities’ action plans vary in both content and completeness, but the
common refrains include increasing automobile efficiency, improving 
public
transportation systems, curbing sprawl, and encouraging walking and
cycling. The plans emphasize using and generating electricity more
efficiently, with renewable energy sources playing a prominent role.

Seattle’s pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions translates into an
annual cut of 683,000 tons, the equivalent of retiring some 148,000 cars
each year. In March 2006, the Mayor’s Green Ribbon Commission made
numerous recommendations on how to achieve this goal. The local role 
model
is the municipal government, which has already slashed carbon emissions
from city operations to more than 60 percent below 1990 levels. This was
achieved in part by switching a share of the government fleet to
hybrid-electric vehicles. By cutting fleet fuel use by 7 percent between
1999 and 2005, the city saved at least $300,000 a year.

Seattle City Light became the nation’s first major electric utility to
achieve zero net greenhouse gas emissions in 2005 through a combination 
of
energy conservation, renewable energy (principally hydropower), and
offsets for the remaining emissions. To capitalize on this success, the
Green Ribbon Commission recommends improving energy efficiency in
buildings and requiring new housing to be energy-efficient.

For Seattle as a whole, the city’s 400,000 registered vehicles are the
number one local producer of greenhouse gases. The commission suggests a
number of ways to reduce automobile dependence: Broaden the availability
of “frequent, reliable, and convenient public transportation,” which 
could
be funded in part by new regional toll roads and a new commercial 
parking
tax. Encourage car sharing. Add bike lanes and trails, improve sidewalks
and crossings, and develop “compact, green, urban neighborhoods” built 
for
people, not cars. With the average Seattleite spending more than one 
work
week sitting in traffic each year, such measures have the benefit of
greatly enhancing residents’ quality of life.

To reduce carbon emissions from vehicles still on the road, the 
commission
supports tailpipe limits on car pollution (as now required under the
California “clean car standards” adopted by Washington State in 2005) 
and
greater use of biofuels. Cutting emissions from diesel trucks, trains, 
and
ships also improves local air quality, leading to fewer cases of asthma
and respiratory disease.

Suggestions to move beyond the Kyoto goals include using rooftop solar
energy systems and heat pump water heaters. Other innovations that make
the Seattle commission’s list are pay-as-you-drive insurance to 
discourage
unnecessary driving, and plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles that for short
trips can run on electricity, preferably produced by renewable
sources—virtually an 80+ mile-per-gallon car.

Of the other cities signed on to the Mayors Agreement, Portland, Oregon,
has one of the most advanced plans for change. In 1993 Portland became 
the
first U.S. city to develop a global warming action plan. Now, together
with the rest of Multnomah County, Portland aims to cut greenhouse gas
emissions to 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2010. Had Multnomah County
continued with business as usual, today it would be emitting more than 
12
million tons of carbon dioxide; because of its deliberate action to 
reduce
greenhouse gases, however, the latest tally shows emissions have fallen 
to
9.7 million tons—just 1 percent above 1990 levels.

Portland has managed to increase public transit use by 75 percent since
1990. This was aided in part by the addition of new major light rail 
lines
and the 2001 reinstatement of a central city streetcar, a throwback to 
the
old trolley system that had been supplanted by polluting diesel buses 
and
personal automobiles. City workers receive monthly bus passes or free 
car
pool parking, and businesses that subsidize employee parking are
encouraged to subsidize public transit commutes as well. Portland also 
has
267 miles (430 kilometers) of bikeways, which it hopes to double within 
10
years.

In 2002, Multnomah County established energy efficiency standards for
“lighting, heating and cooling, appliances, and personal computers.”
Throughout Portland, traffic signals have been converted to LED
(light-emitting diode) bulbs that cut energy use by a whopping 80 
percent,
saving the city more than $500,000 each year in energy and maintenance
costs. And the city is investigating the possibility of powering all its
facilities completely with wind energy.

Elsewhere, city and county office buildings in Salt Lake City, Utah, 
have
removed inefficient incandescent light bulbs in favor of compact
fluorescents that use a third of the energy and last up to 10 times
longer. In chilly St. Paul, Minnesota, an efficient combined heat and
power system warms most downtown buildings. In Washington, DC, 414 
diesel
buses have been replaced with ones that burn cleaner compressed natural
gas. And Austin, Texas, is quickly turning to wind and solar power to
reach its goal of meeting 20 percent of its energy needs from renewable
sources and 15 percent through energy efficiency improvements by 2020.

Response to the Washington climate action void is not limited to cities.
States and businesses also are taking part. The challenge now is to
multiply these initiatives and take them farther. With the U.S. making 
up
5 percent of the global population but responsible for a quarter of the
world’s greenhouse gas emissions, there is no substitute for leadership
from the top.


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Additional data and information sources at www.earthpolicy.org or 
contact
jlarsen (at) earthpolicy.org

For reprint permission contact rjkauffman (at) earthpolicy.org



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