By Judy Sheahan and Dave Gatton
August 10, 2009

A delegation of mayors descended on Washington (DC) on July 28 to urge key Senators to pass climate change legislation this year and to include funding for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG), a key priority for the Conference of Mayors.

Meeting with key members of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, including the Chair Senator Barbara Boxer (CA), the mayors stressed the importance of cities and metro areas in addressing climate change.

“The nation’s mayors are here to support strong and comprehensive climate change legislation,” USCM Vice President Burnsville (MN) Mayor Elizabeth Kautz told Boxer. “It is extremely important for Congress to act this year given the growing urgency of global warming. Cities must be part of the solution if we have any hope of solving this problem.”

This is the first of a series of efforts by The U.S. Conference of Mayors since the Providence Annual Meeting, to secure passage of a climate protection bill. The Conference, through the leadership of USCM President Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, is urging all mayors to contact their Congressional delegations in support of climate change legislation with the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program included.

In addition to meeting with Boxer, the mayoral delegation met with other Senators who serve on the Senate EPW Committee, including Senators Frank Lautenberg (NJ), Bernie Sanders (VT), Tom Carper (DE), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) and representatives from Amy Klobuchar’s (MN) office. The EPW Committee is one of the lead Committees that will be designing the Senate Climate Change Bill. The mayors also met with Senator Jack Reed (RI), who serves on the Appropriations Committee, and Senator Mark Begich (AK), former mayor of Anchorage.

In addition to Kautz, other mayors participating included USCM Past President Trenton (NJ) Mayor Douglas H. Palmer, Elizabeth (NJ) Mayor J. Christian Bollwage, Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido, Providence Mayor David Cicilline, Wilmington (DE) Mayor James Baker, Schenectady (NY) Mayor Brian Stratton, Piscataway (NJ) Mayor Brian Wahler, and Hope (NJ) Mayor Tim McDonough.

The mayors discussed the innovative work they were doing at the local level as a result of their signing the Conference of Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement, an effort led by Nickels. The mayors highlighted the work they were doing in their communities including changing their building codes to make them green and energy efficient, installing LED traffic lights, encouraging new green industries, and promoting green job training.

The mayors also discussed the realities they faced with budget shortfalls and the benefits of yearly funding. “We need that 40-year funding commitment, so we can do long-term planning in our communities,” Palmer said.

Boxer told the mayors that the EPW Committee would be releasing their bill when Congress returns to session on September 8. The Committee is planning on marking up their bill the week of September 21 and pushing to vote it out of the committee by September 28 to meet the deadline set my Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV). Reid has asked that all the committees that have jurisdiction over climate change legislation meet the September 28 deadline so that the various bills can be rolled into comprehensive climate change legislation to be debated by the full Senate in the Fall. Other committees having jurisdiction in the area of climate change include the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, who have already reported out their portion bill, the Agricultural Committee and the Finance Committee.

The House passed climate change legislation, the American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act (HR 2454), on June 26. The House bill does not include the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program but instead provides money to the states with some minimum requirements that the states pass through a small portion of their funding to local governments. Continual funding of the EECBG program is a top priority for The U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Mayors are encouraged to contact their House and Senate members and ask them to include EECBG in the final climate change bill.