By Brett Rosenberg
February 12, 2007

Conference of Mayors President Trenton (NJ) Mayor Douglas H. Palmer opened a special plenary session dedicated to the issue of climate protection. “The issues of energy, environment and climate change have become top priorities for the nation’s mayors and for the U.S. Conference of Mayors,” Palmer said.

In Spring 2005, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels initiated the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, a program meant to encourage mayors to commit their cities to meeting the Kyoto Protocol’s targets of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Agreement’s initial aim was to enlist 141 mayoral participants, the same number of nations that signed the original treaty (the U.S. did not sign). As of January 31, over 375 mayors had signed on to the Agreement, a clear indication of the commitment local leaders have to solve what may be the most urgent environmental issue of our time. Mayors who sign the Agreement pledge to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions for their city operations to seven percent below 1990 levels by 2012.

In June 2005, at the 73rd Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting, the mayors resoundingly adopted a resolution to endorse the Agreement, thus making it even more official. In recognition of the leadership mayors have demonstrated and the momentum they have produced, and the inception of the Mayors Council on Climate Protection, the Conference of Mayors held a unique plenary session during The U.S. Conference of Mayors 75th Winter Meeting led by Seattle Mayor greg Nickels and Carmel Mayor James Brainard, co-chairs of the Council. The session was dedicated entirely to the many facets of climate change, including the science behind it, national politics, and local programs and best practices.

Speakers included California Senator Barbara Boxer, new chair of the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee, and Congressman Edward Markey (MA), whom House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tasked with running a special congressional subcommittee on climate change.

Conference President Trenton Mayor Douglas Palmer introduced the session, citing some of the more startling statistics facing the U.S. Based on current projections, Americans will build 40 million new homes and 20 billion square feet of commercial office space over the next 25 years. Considering the amount of energy existing buildings use, and the greenhouse gas emissions that result, this estimate represents a staggering challenge. However, Palmer noted, by building intelligently through the use of energy efficient design and technology, we can realize over $50 billion and significant pollution reductions over that time. Palmer also acknowledged the two U.S. Conference of Mayors Energy & Environment Summits last year, in Chicago and Atlanta, stating that “[former U.S. Conference of Mayors Presidents] Mayors O’Neill and Guido started us down this path. I intend to continue their work.”

Early in January, The U.S. Conference of Mayors leadership developed the “Strong Cities…Strong Families…For a Strong America” legislative agenda, known also as the Mayors’ 2007 10-Point Plan, which the mayors brought to the U.S. Congress. In recognition of its importance, the number one point proposes the creation of an Energy and Environment Block Grant, modeled after the highly successful Community Development Block Grant, to provide funding directly to cities to improve community energy efficiency; reduce carbon emissions; and decrease dependence on foreign oil. In addition to a block grant, mayors are also looking to Congress to establish national standards for climate change; encourage renewable energy sources and increase America’s energy independence; provide incentives to encourage energy efficient and green building standards; and encourage alternative transportation and fuel choices.

Before turning the session over to Nickels, Palmer delved into much of the block grant’s details and noted that Pelosi said that the mayors “have the ear of the Speaker’s Office” on climate change issues.

Nickels, long an advocate of local environmental action, despite a lack of federal leadership on climate change issues to date, said that the nation’s cities are America’s first responders “in emergencies, and now, in response to global warming.” Sporting a green button that said “I Signed It!,” Nickels called the 375 city signatories to the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement “laboratories around the country” that are dealing with many of encroaching changes in their own unique ways. Nickels suggested that the need to act and recent demands from corporate leaders for national action on climate change should encourage at least 500 mayors to sign the climate agreement by June of this year.

Following Nickels’ remarks, Susan Joy Hassol, a climate science communicator gave an overview of climate science and the effects mankind has had on the planet’s meteorological systems. In her remarks, which demonstrated how greenhouse gases have built up in the atmosphere over the last century at a historically unprecedented rate, Hassol said that, “Never have the opportunities been better or the consequences of failure been more stark.” She was unequivocal in stating that there is overwhelming scientific consensus that climate change is happening, its impacts are apparent now, and that to stabilize it, we will eventually need to go nearly zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Senator Boxer delivered remarks on the potential for climate change legislation in the 110th Congress. Having jurisdiction over many climate change-related issues, Boxer declared that, “There’s no more discussion [in the committee] about whether climate change is happening — it’s time to act.” Boxer acknowledged the leadership mayors have demonstrated around the country, and expressed her commitment to “take the pulse of the Senate” to create workable climate change policy. Since the meeting, the EPW Committee has held a special hearing open to all senators interested in proposing climate change legislation. There are currently bills on the table from Senators John McCain (AZ), Diane Feinstein (CA), John Kerry (MA) and several others.

The committee, according to Boxer, will continue to meet on the issue and consider existing proposals. She closed, noting the committee will also look to locals and the states. “We’ll hear from America; then we’ll write our bill,” Boxer said.

After Boxer’s remarks, Mayor Brainard introduced Congressman Edward Markey (MA). Markey echoed Boxer’s sentiments that the debate is over concerning whether the climate is changing due to rapid industrialization and development, and that it is clearly time to act. He suggested that the timing is right and the U.S. Congress is poised to get to work on climate change policy like never before, with legislation anticipated by July 4. Markey said, “I believe we finally have the public, industry leaders and a bi-partisan coalition convinced and ready to act on global warming.”

Markey expressed concern that the cost of global warming could quickly overwhelm any pre-emptive regulatory burdens, and suggested that if implemented effectively, emissions cap and trade systems could ease much of those burden. He also said, “In the absence of federal leadership, mayors are acting in their communities.” He noted that by passing additional resolutions in cities to combat the causes of global climate change, mayors will prod the federal government toward action.

Ed Mazria, architect and President of the firm Mazria Inc. Odems Dzurec, presented a compelling argument linking buildings to global warming. He praised the nation’s mayors for committing to the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement and adopting a resolution calling for all buildings to be carbon neutral by 2030. Mazria stated that this issue needs strong political will and that, “Mayors are in the best position to provide the political will that’s necessary to design and build more energy-efficient buildings.”

Mazria graphically demonstrated the effects along the U. S. coastlines if sea levels continue to rise. He told session participants that buildings consume about 48 percent of the nation’s energy use, and are responsible for 76 percent of electricity use for normal operations. Mazria said, “The U.S. builds five billion square feet of new construction each year, renovates an equivalent amount, and tears down roughly 1.75 billion.” Mazria noted that by 2035, 80 percent of our built environment will be new or renovated. He was very clear in linking the potential for sea levels rising due to climate change to energy consumption, particularly in buildings, but noted, “If we get this right today, we can change the way the building sector performs by 2030.” Mazria concluded by outlining three steps that can be implemented now: improving building design and innovation; adding smart energy savings technology; and purchasing renewable energy or certified renewable energy credits.

Lawrence Bender, who produced the movie “An Inconvenient Truth,” closed the session with an initiative called 18seconds.org — Change a Bulb, Change Everything. The premise, according to Bender, is that based on thorough research, it takes 18 seconds to replace a traditional incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent bulb. Though the new bulb’s up front cost is significantly higher, it lasts five years of normal use, and uses much less energy to create the roughly the same luminescent output. If every person swapped just one set of bulbs, it would be the equivalent of not burning 31 billion pounds of coal or taking two million cars off the road. “The compact fluorescent light,” according to Bender, “is the Trojan horse of energy savings in this country.”