U.S. mayors focus on ‘local warming’, urge Obama to act
By Valerie Volcovici and Patrick Rucker
18 January 2013 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Reeling from an historic drought, the hottest year on record and more frequent wild weather, mayors from a number of U.S. cities urged the White House this week to take the lead on setting an agenda to address climate change. City leaders said that only the federal government has the tools and clout to address greenhouse gases often blamed for warming the planet, while mayors focus on issues of “local warming” such as providing a reliable water supply or protecting citizens during dangerous weather events such as the 1995 Chicago heat wave that was blamed for over 700 deaths. “We are fixing pot holes, dealing with transit issues,” Seattle mayor Michael McGinn said while attending the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ winter meeting. “But this can be a top tier issue for the president.” On the night of his reelection, Obama said fighting climate change would be a priority in his second term. He has since repeated the point, but without giving policy specifics. And for now officials are doing their work quietly. The White House asked that a discussion about climate change at the mayors’ meeting on Thursday take place behind closed doors, frustrating some participants, even as hot button topics from immigration to gun control got public airings. “This should be discussed openly,” said Jim Brainard, the Republican mayor of Carmel, Indiana, who co-chaired the climate panel. White House liaison for climate change Heather Zichal led the discussion, but declined to comment on why the meeting was closed. “At the end of the day, it was a productive conversation,” she said, noting that the White House was eager to hear from cities on reducing emissions of greenhouse gas. Los Angeles, for example, plans to slash carbon emissions from government sources 35 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, a more ambitious target than even the state has set. Among other measures, Chicago is spending billions of dollars to boost public transit and help public buildings save energy. [more]
