Douglas H. Palmer, Mayor of Trenton and President of The U.S. Conference of Mayors and Conference Executive Director Tom Cochran officially launched The U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Center on February 20, 2007 in recognition of an increasingly urgent need to provide mayors with the guidance and assistance they need to lead their cities’ efforts to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are linked to climate change. Throughout the nation there is clear evidence that mayoral leadership is producing business and community support for policies that reduce emissions. While progress is already being made in many cities, our goal must be to increase the number of cities involved in the effort, and to equip all cities with the knowledge and tools that ultimately will have the greatest impact on undo the causes of global warming.

For decades The U.S. Conference of Mayors has formally adopted and actively promoted policy positions on a range of issues affecting energy production and use and its impact on the environment. In recent years the Conference’s policy positions have increasingly called attention to the need for global climate protection, focusing on renewable energy sources, national standards for climate change, building standards and practices, and transportation options. The establishment of the Mayors Climate Protection Center takes us a giant step beyond advocacy of a stronger federal role in reducing emissions. It acknowledges that while mayors recognize the need for a federal partner in this effort, they cannot and will not wait to act until Washington is ready to move on this problem.

Increasingly, in cities throughout this nation, municipal fleets include vehicles that use alternative fuels or hybrid-electric technology; power plants employ cleaner energy sources; lighting is provided by energy-efficient technologies; buildings are more environmentally sustainable; and individual city climate protection efforts are being viewed as part of broader regional environmental and public health strategies.

In 2005, the Conference unanimously endorsed the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, an initiative launched by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels in which mayors commit to reduce emissions in their cities to seven percent below 1990 levels by 2012. Since then the Conference has actively encouraged mayors to sign on to the agreement, with the result that 1,060 mayors are now committed to this goal, and the number continues to rise.