Other Highlights
MAYOR ANTONIO R. VILLARAIGOSA
City of Los Angeles
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 2, 2009
CONTACT:
Sarah Hamilton
(213) 978-0741
MAYOR VILLARAIGOSA, 60 U.S. MAYORS SIGN CLIMATE PROTECTION AGREEMENT
U.S. Conference of Mayors announces that 1,000 Mayors have signed onto landmark pledge to reduced carbon emissions
SEATLLE, WA - Mayor Villaraigosa today joined U.S Conference of Mayors President Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels to announce that 1,000 mayors, representing more than 86 million Americans, have now signed the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement - a landmark pledge for mayors all across the country to take bold action to significantly reduce carbon emissions in cities.
“Cities are on the front line of climate change. More than half of the world population lives in an urban environment, and any real solution must begin where people live,” Mayor Villaraigosa said. “In Los Angeles, we’ve made real, tangible change in the way we power our homes and businesses, in the way we transport our goods, and in the way we conserve our water. We have the flexibility to do what these times demand.”
The Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement calls for reduction in carbon emissions by 7% below 1990 levels in anticipation of the Copenhagen Climate Conference.
Mayor Villaraigosa will travel to Copenhagen with the C40 Large Cities Climate Group in December to discuss workable solutions to climate change.
The announcement of the 1,000th signatory occurred during The U.S. Conference of Mayors Leadership Meeting at the Seattle Westin Hotel, where more than 60 mayors have come together from October 1st to October 3rd to confer with U.S. Energy Steven Secretary Chu, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, HUD Deputy Secretary Ron Sims, Department of Transportation Deputy Secretary John Pocari, White House Urban Affairs Office Director Aldofo Carrion, National Drug Control Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske, U.S. Census Bureau Director Dr. Robert Groves, and others on stimulus implementation, climate protection, green jobs creation, and other policies that impact urban America and metropolitan areas.
The mayors’ meeting comes on the heels of the introduction of federal climate legislation by California Senator Barbara Boxer and Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. Titled The Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, the Bill includes the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant, a program first conceived by the Conference of Mayors and currently funded in the Stimulus Plan. The Senate bill extends the Block Grants beyond the Stimulus and makes funding available to cities to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, create green jobs and promote greater energy conservation.
During the mayors’ meeting, the Conference also released a city-profile report titled, The Power of 86 Million Americans: 1,000 Mayors Committed to Climate Action, that highlights specific actions mayors are taking around the country to meet the goals of the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement (www.usmayors.org). The report includes cities of all sizes in all regions of the country and shows that the mayors’ climate protection efforts range 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.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are 1,139 such cities in the country today, each represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the Mayor.