By Kevin McCarty
February 2, 2009

USCM Vice President Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and Carmel (IN) Mayor James Brainard convened the Conference's Climate Protection Task Force, leading discussions on the mayors' agenda on economic recovery, "Green Jobs," greening schools and new tools to support local climate action.

Nickels said, "Cities continue to make great progress increasing local climate protection efforts - and the opportunity has never been greater than it is today." Acknowledging pending economic recovery proposals, he told mayors, "We need to be prepared to capitalize on this investment, and part of that preparation is ensuring our workforce development/training/green jobs programs are capable of responding."

Austin Mayor Will Wynn, Chair of the Conference's Standing Committee on Energy, briefed panel members on the status of funding for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program, explaining that the pending House economic recovery package would provide $3.5 billion in funding for the program, with another $3.4 billion for state energy programs. Wynn also discussed key milestones on this Conference-led initiative, which was first launched during the USCM 2007 Winter Meeting, with mayors expressing their appreciation to Wynn for his leadership and the work of the Energy Committee on this priority.

To frame key issues for a panel discussion on "green jobs," Brainard reviewed the key finding of the Conference's Green Jobs report, Current and Potential Green Jobs in the U.S. Economy, prepared by Global Insight and released during the USCM October 2, 2008 Mayors' Forum on Energy and Environment Forum in Miami.

"Green jobs are expected to provide the biggest share of future job growth, ten percent of all new job growth by 2038," Brainard said. Touting key findings of the report, he also explained that the report provides a first-ever, metro-by-metro green jobs index, allowing us "to measure and track our progress in creating green jobs." He also reminded the mayors that the potential to grow green jobs in their cities and regions will be shaped by local actions and decisions.

With this context, Nickels moderated a panel discussion with national leaders on these issues, who discussed how a greener U.S. economy would deliver new economic and other benefits to people and their communities. In his comments, Van Jones, Founder and President of Green For All, said, "The big challenge is to connect people to the work that needs to be done" and that "we have the opportunity to create a whole new sector of the economy."

Jones also challenged leaders to come together in a "New Convent" that would bring labor, business, environmentalists, social leaders, and others together in a green growth alliance.

Bracken Hendricks, Senior Fellow with the Center for American Progress, described the shift to a green economy as "a moment for mayors." Praising mayors for their leadership, he said, "You were the first voice to say we can do this." In comments on the pending recovery package, Hendricks said, "The biggest federal priority is to succeed."

Speaking on behalf of the Apollo Alliance, a national coalition of labor, environmental and other groups, an early advocate of the benefits of green jobs and a green economy, Kate Gordon used her remarks to outline her organization's strategy and offer perspectives on how green jobs are defined. "The entire [stimulus] bill is a green jobs bill," she said in defining the opportunity to make effective use of the resources that will be provided in the legislation.

During this session, Amy Hill, Wal-Mart's Senior Director of Public Affairs and Government Relations, announced the Wal-Mart Foundation's $5 million grant to the U.S. Conference of Mayors to support six grants to cities during 2009 to train people for green jobs. In early 2010, three additional grants will be given to cities to support pilot programs providing green workforce training.

Kathleen Rogers, President of Earth Day Network, and Greg Kats, Principal at Capital E and Managing Director of Good Energies, discussed the need to prioritize the greening of schools.

Touting the many health and other benefits to students who attend green schools, Rogers urged mayors not to overlook the sizable school construction budgets, explaining that as much as $80 billion over two years is expended on the construction of school buildings and facilities. She also urged the mayors to work with their school districts and other leaders to ensure that a greater portion of construction budgets are directed to "green investments."

Kats supplemented Rogers remarks with financial data showing the economic benefits of reduced life cycle costs of green buildings, including reduced operating costs and other benefits from investments in energy efficiency and other energy measures.

Jacky Grimshaw, Vice President for Policy, Transportation and Community Development with Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) in Chicago, reviewed her organization's work with Microsoft and the Clinton Climate Initiative's C-40 Cities to develop an updated methodology for estimating local greenhouse gas emissions. To be available later this year, Grimshaw said, "This new tool will move from the C-40 cities to other cities that are interested in establishing a consistent baseline." She also noted that her organization's related work involved research on 33 different climate mitigation strategies.

Grimshaw also explained CNT's work on quantifying household costs for both transportation and housing, expressed in its "Housing and Transportation Affordability Index," which is now available for 60 metropolitan markets and in more than 300 areas later this year. Using GIS-generated maps, this tool - available at www.cnt.org - shows areas of affordability within regions, accounting for both housing and transportation costs. In doing so, it challenges traditional notions of "affordability" within regions, supports mayors and other policy-makers seeking investment in cities and transportation alternatives, and also can help encourage development patterns that curb future greenhouse gas emissions.