Washington, DC
December 14, 2007

Our Energy Block Grant

Never before in recent history has Congress passed a major United States Conference of Mayors initiative with such speed since it was introduced. The Energy and Environment Block Grant initiative provides $2 billion that is authorized to be spent in cities, counties and states to tailor local and state climate protection activities to help us meet the goals of our Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.

This legislative victory didn’t just happen. We owe a lot of credit to the masterful leadership of our President, Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer. This past week, December 5, we marked the first anniversary of the death of our esteemed President, Dearborn Mayor Mike Guido. Mayor Guido and former President Long Beach Mayor Beverly O’Neill put the energy issue on our top agenda. President Palmer and I met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi immediately after her election and we presented her our proposed plan for a multi-billion dollar block grant energy and environmental program to help our cities move our city people toward behavioral changes to assist our overall efforts in climate protection.

Following the Pelosi meetings, Mayor Palmer and I went to the Senate side. In the evenings and in the mornings, we tracked down Senators pushing our plan. We never let up.

The leadership of the Conference of Mayors endorsed our energy and environmental block grant after the initial Pelosi/Palmer meetings and we were off and running.

The Winter Meeting of 2006 came and we put a price of $4 billion to be used for local climate protection activities. Our proposal was well received and augmented the efforts of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels’ recruitment campaign to sign on to the Mayors Climate Protection campaign.

We made the case, as advocated by mayors, that so many cities want a federal partner to provide needed resources to motivate efforts at the local level.

We have been relentless in our efforts pushing this legislation. At every press conference, regional and national meetings, television, radio and public discourse of all forms, President Palmer and our mayors have made the case to involve local governments in the climate protection efforts.

All mayors deserve credit for this. And I must thank and praise the USCM green team at our headquarters. Our two Assistant Directors Debra Dehaney-Howard for Energy and Judy Sheahan for Environment have done masterful legislative work. And with our USCM Climate Protection Center staffers, Kevin McCarty, Lina Garcia and Brett Rosenberg, we have as a staff all joined in to win this one.

We are also appreciative of our closely aligned Business Council members for the help they continue to give us. Managing Director Geri Powell broke all records in raising resources for our energy summits in Chicago, Atlanta and Seattle. We continue to bring the business community with us – through our Mayors Business Council and our recently formed Mayors Climate Protection Business Council. Together, we have a great building program ahead of us as we continue to need financial support to do what we are charged to do for our mayors.

We thank profusely the members of Congress who have helped us pass this legislation. Key members of the House were Representatives John Dingell (MI), Steny Hoyer (MD), Albert Wynn (MD), and Rick Boucher (VA), and key members of the Senate were Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV), Senators Jeff Bingaman (NM), Pete Domenici (NM), Robert Menendez (NJ), and Bernard Sanders (VT).

So we pause to thank, to recognize leadership, devotion and their hard work for those that made this possible. As your CEO and Executive Director, my collegial style of managing involved all our headquarters staff and across the board the team work was simply our best.

We recognize that we have “miles to go” for Presidential signature and appropriations, as Robert Frost wrote “before we sleep.” But who needs sleep when you are winning. We will continue 24/7 and soon we will deliver new resources to help us with this local, state, national and global challenge.

Once again, when others doubt and ask “why,” mayors say as Robert Kennedy said “why not.” Let us go forth. Stay with us and together Mayor Palmer’s vision will be all a reality. But we must continue to work and work hard to protect the ground we have gained. We will, we must. Thanks again to all who have helped us get our legislation through both the House and the Senate.

As we have been moving with great strides in the Congress, President Palmer and the Executive Committee made it clear that they wanted a bipartisan presence in the ‘08 Primary states. And we delivered.

First in New Hampshire, Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann and Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy and I went to Concord, New Hampshire to join with our ally American for the Arts forum on the importance of arts, tourism and culture to our nation. Presidential candidates had representatives there as well as other notables as we discussed why we must have more White House emphasis on this important cultural and economic sector of our nation.

From New Hampshire, we went to Des Moines, Iowa to join with Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie in three major events. Conference President Palmer, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett and I held a USCM press forum on our ‘08 10-Point Plan. Our press forum was sandwiched in between two major Iowa Caucus events, the Heartland Forum and the Iowa Brown & Black Presidential Forum.

Our mayors were quite involved in both of these events. Over 5,000 people received copies of our ‘08 10-Point Plan at the Heartland Forum. Mayors were on stage and had a chance to greet each Presidential candidate as they came on stage. Further, Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie and President Palmer spoke to an enthusiastic crowd. Latino voters from the Mid-West strongly cheered Mayor Villaraigosa. All mayors were actively involved in press activities.

At the Iowa Brown & Black Presidential Forum in the evening at the North High School, we saturated the audience with our ‘08 10-Point Plan, printed both in English and Spanish. Mayor Cownie was on stage before all the Presidential candidates were lined up to push our plan and thank all mayors for their activities during our Iowa mission.

It was good to see and talk to President Clinton at the Brown & Black Presidential Forum and I thanked him again and expressed great hope in our new USCM/Clinton Foundation Climate Protection Forum.

It was a privilege and honor to work with and get to know the co-founders of the Brown & Black Presidential Forum, State Representative Wayne Ford and outstanding Latino leader Ms. Mary Campos. We look forward to a continued relationship with these two outstanding citizens.

Iowa and New Hampshire were both successes. We will continue to drive our agenda forward. We have many days, weeks, and months ahead of us before the nation chooses the 43rd President. We will now intensify our efforts as we bring hundreds of mayors to Washington next month for our 76th Winter Meeting. Tsunami Tuesday is coming. The Presidentials will be fewer then. Some will fall by the wayside. That’s good for us. The smaller the number, the better for us. We can rifle in and focus so that when transition time hits and when the first 100 days of the new President comes around in 2009, we will be at the table, pushing a common metro agenda to make our families stronger, our cities stronger and our nation stronger. That’s what it’s all about.

To all mayors – Have a happy holiday. Rest. Have peace. Be close to those you love and like. And know how thankful we are for all you do for your city and our nation.

Happy 2008. I look forward to seeing you all again – soon – at our 2008 Winter Meeting here in Washington at the Capital Hilton. This is where you need to be next month. It’s 2008. We are one year away from a new President and we must come together, renew our energy and continue to work hard and play hard until victory is ours. I’m optimistic about it. Come join us. We need you.