Michael Bloomberg Says Cities Can Help Us Meet Paris Climate Goal

by Josh Siegel & Abby Smith (Washington Examiner's Daily on Energy) New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and eight other U.S. mayors released a policy “playbook” Thursday for how cities can cut emissions from the transportation and building sectors.

The mayors say if the largest 100 U.S. cities took these recommended actions, total combined emissions between them would fall 28.5%, helping the U.S. meet its Paris climate agreement goals. Bloomberg said 25 U.S. cities are already taking his proposed actions through his American Cities Climate Challenge, which his philanthropy has provided with $70 million in funding.

“Our Climate Action Playbook will help spread their successes to other cities across the U.S. and the world, drawing on the proven policies and programs that are reducing emissions, strengthening infrastructure, and improving public health,” Bloomberg said at the conclusion of the 2019 C40 World Mayors Summit in Copenhagen.

Policies proposed by Bloomberg and the other mayors include implementing energy efficiency projects in municipal facilities; purchasing renewable energy to meet municipal electricity demand; installing electric vehicle charging at municipal parking lots; electrifying city buses; and implementing new financing programs for efficiency, renewables, and infrastructure that encourages private sector lending. READ MORE

Excerpt from Climate Action Playbook: The threat of climate change is growing, but our momentum to tackle it is growing, too – and cities are leading the way. At Bloomberg Philanthropies, we’re working hard to support their efforts and help them do even more.

In 2018, we launched the American Cities Climate Challenge, a competition that invited mayors to propose ways to significantly deepen and accelerate their efforts to tackle climate change and improve their residents’ lives. We selected 25 winners and are providing them with powerful new resources and support to help them meet their goals.

One year into the program, the cities in the Climate Challenge are pursuing more than 170 proven policies and programs to reduce emissions, including those highlighted in this Climate Action Playbook. Their efforts – from building new renewable energy projects, to retrofitting old and inefficient buildings, to purchasing electric buses and other city vehicles – are projected to reduce their collective carbon emissions by over 40 million metric tons by 2025. That’s the equivalent of taking 8.5 million cars off the road.

Those efforts are vital to bringing the U.S. closer to our commitment under the Paris Climate Agreement, but we still have much more to do. We hope this handbook will help spread the good work cities are doing – and inspire more communities to act boldly.

Our 25 Leadership Cities will showcase a variety of different pathways to reaching the Paris Agreement climate goals and represent cities at different points in the climate action journey ranging from cities with early support for emissions reductions to cities with strong track records of innovative emissions reduction programs.
ALBUQUERQUE, NM
ATLANTA, GA
AUSTIN, TX
BOSTON, MA
CHARLOTTE, NC
CHICAGO, IL
CINCINNATI, OH
COLUMBUS, OH
DENVER, CO
HONOLULU, HI
INDIANAPOLIS, IN
LOS ANGELES, CA
MINNEAPOLIS, MN
ORLANDO, FL
PHILADELPHIA, PA
PITTSBURGH, PA
PORTLAND, OR
SAINT PAUL, MN
SAN ANTONIO, TX
SAN DIEGO, CA
SAN JOSE, CA
SEATTLE, WA
ST. LOUIS, MO
ST. PETERSBURG, FL
WASHINGTON, D.C. READ MORE