Energy Saving News
Mayors Gather to Act on Energy Efficiency
THE U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM), an official nonpartisan organisation of cities with populations of 30,000 or more, hosted a one-day meeting in San Francisco to discuss how cities in the U.S. State of California are using federal stimulus dollars to make their local communities energy efficient while also creating green jobs.
Bob Foster, Mayor of Long Beach, chaired the session and also serves in the Conference's leadership, was joined by host San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom; Cathy Zoi, the U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; and several mayors from across the state with the discussions on how Energy Efficiency Block Grants are currently being used to support green projects in their jurisdictions.
Initially funded under last year's Economic Recovery Plan and administered by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) programme is a newly created programme conceived by the Conference of Mayors and is designed to help mayors to reduce city energy use and climate emissions.
The programme allocates $2.8 billion directly to cities and counties to help them to improve their energy efficiency while stimulating economic growth within the green sector. This direct formula funding applies to 215 cities and 13 counties in California.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors in 2005 began pushing for the energy block grant in conjunction with the introduction of a Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement — a milestone for mayors across the country to take affirmative action in reducing carbon emissions in cities by 2012.
Currently, more then 1,044 U.S. mayors, representing over 87 million people, have signed onto the Climate Protection Agreement and are committed to making their local economies energy efficient.
Since the Block Grant is a key priority for USCM, the organisation will also take its message to Congress this autumn in an effort to continue the programme as means of green job creation in cities and metro areas where jobs are needed most.
Picture by Marko Cadez
Wednesday 18th August 2010
