By Debra DeHaney-Howard
March 5, 2007

Conference of Mayors President Trenton Mayor Douglas Palmer joined with more than 150 labor, business and environmental leaders at a special meeting in Washington, DC, using the occasion to describe the Conference’s new initiative — the Energy and Environment Block Grant — that will “help cities accelerate their climate protection efforts.”

Palmer made his remarks February 26 during the Apollo Alliance’s Clean Energy and Good Jobs Summit, which focused on strategies to promote clean energy solutions that create good jobs throughout America. Palmer joined with Alliance leaders at a special session following remarks by former Philadelphia Mayor and now Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell.

“Our block grant proposal, modeled after the highly successful HUD Community Development Block Grant, would allocate $4 billion annually to cities, large counties and states,” Palmer said. In calling for Congressional action on this initiative, Palmer explained that these new resources will translate into more immediate action and more progress. “We can’t wait any longer, and America needs to get started now,” he said.

Palmer described how the block grant would deliver funds directly to mayors and other local leaders to help them improve community energy efficiency, initiate community strategies to reduce carbon emissions — helping our communities achieve “carbon free” buildings by 2030, strengthen transportation initiatives to cut fuel use, deploy new technologies and systems to reduce our energy dependency, and test out alternative/renewable energy sources.

Outlining the Conference’s 10-point Plan, Strong Cities, Strong Families for a Strong America, Palmer indicated that the Energy and Environment Block Grant is a top priority for the Conference’s efforts on climate protection. “We can no longer behave as if there are never any consequences from inaction — the unthinkable threat from global warming is the most humbling consequence of all. We have missed too many opportunities to deal with our larger challenges, most notably our energy dependency,” he said.

“The nation’s mayors are calling for a new vision for the future — one that frees us from our dependency on foreign oil, promotes new clean energy technologies, and creates high paying jobs for all Americans,” Palmer told the Alliance delegates. He also talked about the need for additional actions by mayors and other governmental leaders at the local and state levels to meet the challenges posed by the nation’s energy dependence and rising greenhouse gas emissions.