Mayors: Green Jobs Will Grow From Obama's Stimulus Plan

Mayors: Green Jobs Will Grow From Obama's Stimulus Plan

WASHINGTON, DC, January 19, 2008 (ENS)

Climate protection and green jobs will top the agenda for the nation's mayors in 2009. Climate champion Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels has been elected incoming president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, an influential organization of more than 1,000 major cities, which today wrapped up its winter meeting in Washington.

Nickels launched the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement in 2005, pledging to meet or beat the greenhouse gas emission reduction goals of the international Kyoto Protocol - a seven percent reduction from 1990 levels by the end of 2012. To date, 910 mayors have signed the agreement.

"As our nation and metro areas work to reduce carbon emissions, our determination will open new opportunities for clean energy and green jobs," said Nickels.
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels (Photo courtesy Office of the Mayor)

The mayors Saturday released their fourth and latest economic recovery report, showing that an economic stimulus package supporting green jobs in energy, water and wastewater infrastructure, public transit and rail improvements could put hundreds of thousands of people to work immediately. Projects proposed by 779 cities across the country could start quickly and be completed within one or two years, the mayors report.

When added to other local projects that mayors say are ready to go, a total of 18,750 projects could produce 1.6 million jobs with a federal investment of $100 billion. That amounts to more than half of the total three million jobs now sought by President-elect Barack Obama over the next two years.

In the midst of the events surrounding this historic Presidential Inauguration, more than 250 of the nation's mayors, led by U.S. Conference of Mayors President Mayor Manny Diaz of Miami, Florida gathered for their winter meeting to discuss national priorities and Obama's proposed multi-billion dollar American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.

Earlier this month Obama said, "To put people back to work today and reduce our dependence on foreign oil tomorrow, we will double renewable energy production and renovate public buildings to make them more energy efficient. To build a 21st century economy, we must engage contractors across the nation to create jobs rebuilding our crumbling roads, bridges, and schools."

Diaz is pleased with the Obama proposal saying, "This plan is the first crucial step in a concerted effort to create and save millions of jobs, jumpstart our economy, and begin the process of transforming our America for the 21st Century. Mayors are pleased to see significant funding for local programs with targeted investments and unprecedented accountability measures."

Many of the programs that have been proposed in the House legislation implementing the Obama economic recovery plan represent long-term priorities that the Conference of Mayors has been promoting for years, including items called for in the Mayors' 10-Point Plan: Strong Cities, Strong Families, for a Strong America.

In addition, the House measure reflects funding in every one of the 10 program areas the mayors recently called for in their MainStreet Economic Recovery document.

The mayors' new Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program would be used by cities, counties, and states to create thousands of energy efficiency and renewable energy production projects.

These projects could include energy retrofits of public and private buildings in local areas, installation of solar panels or wind turbines for the production of electricity on local buildings, deployment of new energy distribution technologies - such as distributed generation or district heating and cooling systems - that increase energy efficiency, and development of systems to capture and generate power from methane at landfills.

The mayors urged Congress to move quickly on an economic stimulus package.

"The economy is getting worse, more job losses are on the horizon, and small businesses are folding or holding on by the skin of their teeth," said Mayor Diaz. "We need Congress to act now on a recovery plan to put people back to work."
Dallas Mayor Thomas Leppert (Photo courtesy USCM)

"Our cities and their metro areas are the drivers of our national economy," said Dallas Mayor Thomas Leppert, who chairs the Conference's Metro Economic Committee. "This report underscores that any national economic recovery depends on how soon our metro economies can begin producing jobs. Without the economic recovery of metropolitan economies, there can be no U.S. recovery."

The American people are aligned with the mayors' priorities. A Zogby poll conducted for the Conference and released Saturday, found that 84 percent of respondents believe that infrastructure improvements are important to the health of the local economy.

While only 37 percent of respondents believe the President-elect's economic recovery plan will help "people like me," a majority of respondents believe the plan will help create local jobs and help stimulate the local economy.

Mayor Diaz said, "Cities and metropolitan areas are where 84 percent of the American people live and where the pain of this economic downturn is being felt most. Because of this, cities are where the greatest resources should be placed and are where public investment can have the greatest bang for the buck."

Mayor Nickels is hopeful that the incoming Obama administration will move climate protection forward in tamdem with job creation.

"For years, we have been asking for a strong federal partner to reduce carbon emissions," said Nickels.

The mayors are urging the new President and Congress to establish a national emissions reduction target of 80 percent by 2050, a level most scientists say is essential to avoid the worst effects of global warming.

The mayors want Congress and President Obama to enact carbon cap-and-trade legislation that supports local government initiatives and reduces greenhouse emissions.

Finally, the mayors are urging Obama administration to participate constructively in negotiations and ratify the United States' commitment to the next Climate Change Accord that is expected to be finalized in Copenhagen in December.