Mayors, USGBC form alliance for green schools
In keeping with its 2007 resolution calling for green schools for all children within a generation, the Washington-based U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) is working with the Washington-based U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to build a mayor’s alliance that will promote the benefits of green schools in every community. The alliance will support public/private partnerships to build environmentally friendly schools, encourage state legislation that creates incentives for green school improvements, and “engage in a national dialogue about green schools, green jobs and green infrastructure.”
USCM President and Miami Mayor Manny Diaz announced the alliance, along with Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, in October. “As mayors, we know all too well that schools are the heart of our communities, as they represent the promise we make to our children and future generations, a promise of learning and of opportunity,” Diaz said in a statement. USGBC President and CEO Rick Fedrizzi said in the same statement that, “Mayors are the vanguard of sustainable development in our country…We have Green School Advocacy Committees in 80 local USGBC chapters throughout the country, and we are putting them at the mayors’ disposal to advance opportunities, programs and initiatives that champion green school causes and help them publicly celebrate their successes.”
View more information on the green schools alliance.