Glen Besa, Sierra Club-US, gave an overview of the Cool Cities initiative, stressing the importance of generating political will at the municipal level. He noted that since February 2005, over 700 cities in 50 states in the US have signed onto the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, adding that this represents over 75 million people. Besa then introduced the Cool Cities Activist Toolkit, which outlines strategies for getting cities to reduce emissions.
Tyla Matteson, Sierra Club-US, described her experience in getting her home town of Richmond, Virginia, to become a “Cool City,” noting that the popularity of Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” was pivotal in achieving public support. She described measures Richmond has taken to become more environmentally friendly, including switching to waterless urinals and planting trees.
Rosa Corrie, Sierra Youth Coalition-Canada, emphasized that universities can play a major role in reducing emissions, and stressed the need for a participatory approach. She encouraged building relationships with people who will implement the changes needed, ranging from university decision makers to staff responsible for waste disposal.
Discussion: participants shared experiences in working at the grassroots level to reduce emissions in their own cities.
More information
http://coolcities.us
http://syc-cjs.org/sustainable
Contacts
Glen Besa <glen.besa@sierraclub.org>
Tyla Matteson <tmatteson1@mindspring.com>
Rosa Kouri <rosakouri@gmail.com>
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