Mayors’ Climate Agreement now has 500 signatories
The number of mayors who have signed onto the Washington-based U.S. Conference of Mayors’ (USCM) Climate Protection Agreement has reached 500. USCM President and Trenton, N.J., Mayor Douglas Palmer announced the achievement during the C40 Climate Summit in New York, and went on to voice support for the Energy and Environmental Block Grant Act (EEBGA) now under consideration in the House of Representatives.
Tulsa, Okla., Mayor Kathy Taylor was the 500th mayor to sign the agreement, in which the participating mayors pledge to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in their cities to below 1990 levels. Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels began the agreement in 2005. “What started in Seattle as a protest against the policies of delay has a coalition of communities across America that are making a difference for the future of our planet.”
A version of EEBGA, the Energy Efficiency Promotion Act, was introduced in the Senate last month. The bills, which would fund grants for local governments’ energy conservation projects, are based on the USCM’s 10-point plan that was presented to Congress in January, Palmer says.