Earth Equity News

Big Cities Seeking Greater Role in DC Climate Debate. By Evan Lehmann, ClimateWire, July 28, 2009. "Big cities feel 'invisible' in the climate debate in Congress, even though they face some of the biggest threats from human-sharpened natural hazards. Washington's omission is troubling to metropolitan areas like New York City and Chicago because they are the dominant source of carbon dioxide in their regions and will face the earliest impacts. They are also racing to understand climate change, while confronting its causes and trying to adapt to its downsides... The House-passed climate bill... overlooks city experts with experience in adjusting real-life practices, like building and zoning codes, to match shifting climatic problems, they say... 'One of the biggest disappointments we have with Waxman-Markey is that cities are absolutely invisible in the bill,' Adam Freed, deputy director of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability [PlanNYC 2030], said last week... Chicago and other cities say they need help cutting carbon. They want the federal government to stop giving money for things like transportation to the states, which focus on building highways. Instead, those checks should be deposited directly into the vaults of cities, which could use it for public transportation like subways."