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July 22, 2019
The Senate Democrats’ Special Committee on the Climate Crisis held its first hearing on July 17, 2019. Five mayors from across the country presented their cities’ climate adaptation initiatives and challenges, and highlighted ways in which the federal government can assist local efforts. Topics discussed during these hearings are expected to shape the environmental legislation of potential future Democrat-led administrations. Members of the Committee further expressed hope that Republican colleagues may also join their deliberations.
Atlanta, Georgia, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms noted that her city is particularly vulnerable to drought and extreme heat events, having experienced a 2-degree Fahrenheit average temperature rise since 1980. Atlanta is defending itself against adverse climate impacts through its Clean Energy Atlanta plan, a commitment to transition to 100 percent clean energy by 2035. Additionally, the city is dramatically expanding its supply of emergency drinking water—from a five-day supply to a more than 30-day supply—through its $400 million Water Supply Program, which will convert an abandoned quarry into a new reservoir surrounded by a 250-acre park. Bottoms further emphasized the need for improved energy efficiency in a city with one of the highest energy burdens in the United States (an energy burden is the percentage of annual income spent on energy costs). She highlighted the city’s Housing Affordability Action Plan intended to lower utility burdens in low-income households and create 20,000 affordable homes by 2026. Atlanta is further reducing its carbon footprint through its Guaranteed Energy Savings Performance Contract, an initiative improving energy efficiency in city-owned buildings.
Honolulu, Hawaii, Mayor Kirk Caldwell outlined the challenges facing his island community, including rising sea levels, increased flooding, a decline in trade winds, increased air temperature, and decreased overall rainfall. The city voted to create an Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resilience in 2016, and issued a resilience strategy in May 2019 with input from thousands of community members. The new office will be better equipped to apply for climate adaptation grants made available through the recently passed Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018. Caldwell highlighted the city’s recent switch to all-LED streetlights, in line with the state’s ten-year-old overarching Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative to use 100 percent renewable energy by 2045. Transportation greenhouse gas emissions remain a problem for Honolulu, which is working to reduce those emissions through a rail project supported by the Federal Transit Administration. Caldwell reiterated the importance of cities working together to achieve climate goals, such as the Climate Mayor’s Electric Vehicle Purchasing Collaborative, which uses collective buying power to reduce the price of electric vehicles.
St. Paul, Minnesota, Mayor Melvin Carter remarked upon his city’s unique vulnerabilities to the climate crisis, including its northern location and dependency upon the Mississippi River. Warmer winter temperatures, along with increased snowfall, have hastened erosion and made infrastructure maintenance more expensive. In response to increased climate hazards, St. Paul developed a Climate Action and Resilience Plan to reduce energy and transportation costs by transitioning to LED lighting in city buildings and improving pedestrian and bike infrastructure. Carter also discussed a new project converting a 122-acre former Ford production site into an energy-efficient demonstration neighborhood that will generate 80 percent less carbon emissions than buildings built to code in 2005.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Mayor William Peduto discussed his city’s climate-responsive plans created with local community, university, and business input: the Pittsburgh Climate Action Plan and the OnePGH Resilience Strategy. These plans include goals to attain 100 percent renewable electricity for city operations, a 100 percent fossil fuel-free fleet, 50 percent emissions reduction, and zero waste by 2030. Equitable energy transitions are important to the city of Pittsburgh, which recently partnered with Siemens to determine a pathway to a just energy transition that invests in transportation networks, upgrades building energy efficiency, and uses clean power systems. Such an analysis, Peduto suggested, could be used in every city. Peduto recommended an ambitious “Marshall Plan for the Midwest” which would reignite manufacturing and create jobs in clean energy in Rust Belt cities.
Portland, Oregon, Mayor Ted Wheeler discussed his city’s long history of climate adaptation, creating the first climate action plan in the United States in 1993. Wheeler noted that Portland has been able to reduce carbon emissions by 38 percent since 1990 despite an increasing population and economy. According to Wheeler, Portland accomplished these reductions in part through investments in walkable neighborhoods, public transit, sidewalks and bike paths, protecting natural areas, and improving building energy efficiency. Wheeler noted that Portland is focused on increasing the use of public transit to reduce vehicle emissions, bolstered by plans to have an entirely electric bus fleet by 2040. Portland developed its Central City in Motion plan to reduce transit delays and improve overall transit service for the more than 75,000 people who ride buses daily. Wheeler additionally highlighted Portland’s Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund, an environmental initiative led by communities of color to create a new $50-70 million a year revenue stream for green jobs and energy efficient homes.
The mayors suggested some of the following federal actions to bolster local efforts to improve climate change adaptation and greenhouse gas emission mitigation:
Author: Amber Todoroff
Advancing science-based climate solutions
Top-Rated Climate Nonprofit – 4-Star Charity