[SustainableTompkins] Fwd: From The NYT and The Post World Mayors Hold Climate Summit in NYC

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Subject: From The NYT and The Post World Mayors Hold Climate Summit in NYC 









Articles as they have been appearing in the mainstream press.  
  



May 15, 2007

  

World Mayors Hold Climate Summit in NYC 

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

NEW YORK (AP) -- City leaders from around the globe gathered Tuesday for an environmental summit hosted by former President Clinton and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg with a message that the campaign to reverse global warming begins with the world's mayors.

''It is in cities that the battle to tackle climate change will be won or lost,'' London Mayor Ken Livingstone said.

  

Mayors and local leaders from more than 30 cities kicked off the conference, known as the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit, which first met in 2005 in London. Organizers say cities bear a significant responsibility to address climate change because they cover less than 1 percent of the Earth's surface but generate 80 percent of heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

''Our theme is not whether we should work together, because we know that we must, it is how and how fast we can do so,'' New York's Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff said.

  

The summit includes mayors from Seoul to Sao Paulo, Albuquerque to Addis Ababa.

The meeting comes at a time when many countries are struggling to address global and national standards for carbon reduction. This week, U.N. delegates are meeting in Germany to gear up for December negotiations on a new set of international rules for controlling greenhouse gas emissions. The new accord would succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which ends in 2012.

  

When the Group of Eight major industrialized countries -- the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada and Russia -- met in Germany in June, climate change will also be on the agenda.

Meanwhile, the mayors said Tuesday, local governments can't wait around.

''Where national governments can't or won't lead, cities will,'' Toronto Mayor David Miller said.

In a discussion on transportation, the mayor of the Brazilian city of Curitiba described his city's solutions, which include a Bus Rapid Transit system, while Livingstone described London's program to reduce traffic by charging motorists extra money in the city center. Bloomberg recently announced his intention to begin a similar traffic charging program in Manhattan.

London traffic congestion dropped by 20 percent, and carbon emissions in the central zone similarly decreased, Livingstone said. The fee -- equal to about $16 -- has gone up since it started in 2003.

  

''People may not like paying the 5 pounds a day, but they certainly didn't want to live with that style of congestion,'' Livingstone said. He said his city's next goal is to charge more for higher-polluting cars, a pricing scale that could mean a $50 equivalent charge for the worst offenders.

  

Organizers of the conference, which ends Thursday, also invited a number of business leaders to this year's gathering in an effort to involve the private sector. They hope to convince companies that going green -- through innovative construction, transportation alternatives and other environmental changes -- is a profitable economic move. 

 

 
 

 

 







 





May 15, 2007

On the Web, an Advanced Carbon Calculator for Personal Use 

By STEVE LOHR

A new Internet tool to help individuals and communities curb their role in adding global-warming carbon emissions will be announced today at a conference in New York of mayors from around the world, said a person who built the Web technology.

Many environmental groups offer simple carbon calculators on the Web, which allow people to figure the carbon dioxide production from daily routines like driving a car or lighting a house.

“But this is serious software, serious quantitative methods and social networking technology brought to the green world,” said Ron Dembo, the chief executive of Zerofootprint, a nonprofit group that provides information and services to combat global warming.

Mr. Dembo, a founder of an analytics software company and a former computer scientist at Yale University, said details of the Web service would be described today at the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit, by David Miller, the mayor of Toronto.

The Web service, called GoZero Footprint City Calculator, is a collaboration of Zerofootprint and Business Objects, a maker of business intelligence software. Bernard Liautaud, the chairman of Business Objects, said that his company had joined the project as an initial step in using its software to help people on the Web create a “collective intelligence” to address humanitarian issues. 

On the interactive climate site, people will be able to enter data, see the carbon effect and how their carbon footprint compares with averages in their city and in cities worldwide. They will also be able to do what-if simulations, to see how changes in their activities affect carbon emissions. The anonymous data will be collected for analysis by climate change scientists and others. 

A link to the new site, Mr. Dembo said, will be at the “initiatives” section of Zerofootprint.net.  “The idea,” he said, “is something that will address millions of people and is infinitely customizable to any culture or lifestyle.”

The top-down global warming policies of governments, Mr. Dembo said, like creating environmental regulations and product standards, are important. “But bottom-up is where we’re really going to make progress,” he said, “and this is a tool that can potentially enable a really massive carbon footprint reduction.”

The mayors’ summit is a four-day gathering that began yesterday with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg as its host. It is partly sponsored by the Clinton Climate Initiative, a project led by former President Bill Clinton.

The meeting is the second mayors’ climate summit; the first took place two years ago in London. Cities, according to the organizers, are responsible for three-quarters of the world’s energy consumption, and have “a critical role to play in the reduction of carbon emissions and the reversal of dangerous climate change.





O


THE WASHINGTON POST
World Mayors Hold Climate Summit in NYC
By SARA KUGLER   The Associated Press
Tuesday, May 15, 2007

NEW YORK -- City leaders from around the globe gathered Tuesday for an environmental summit hosted by former President Clinton and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg with a message that the campaign to reverse global warming begins with the world's mayors.

"It is in cities that the battle to tackle climate change will be won or lost," London Mayor Ken Livingstone said.

 

Mayors and local leaders from more than 30 cities kicked off the conference, known as the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit, which first met in 2005 in London. Organizers say cities bear a significant responsibility to address climate change because they cover less than 1 percent of the Earth's surface but generate 80 percent of heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

"Our theme is not whether we should work together, because we know that we must, it is how and how fast we can do so," New York's Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff said.

  

The summit includes mayors from Seoul to Sao Paulo, Albuquerque to Addis Ababa.

The meeting comes at a time when many countries are struggling to address global and national standards for carbon reduction. This week, U.N. delegates are meeting in Germany to gear up for December negotiations on a new set of international rules for controlling greenhouse gas emissions. The new accord would succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which ends in 2012.

When the Group of Eight major industrialized countries _ the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada and Russia _ met in Germany in June, climate change will also be on the agenda.

 

Meanwhile, the mayors said Tuesday, local governments can't wait around.

"Where national governments can't or won't lead, cities will," Toronto Mayor David Miller said.

In a discussion on transportation, the mayor of the Brazilian city of Curitiba described his city's solutions, which include a Bus Rapid Transit system, while Livingstone described London's program to reduce traffic by charging motorists extra money in the city center. Bloomberg recently announced his intention to begin a similar traffic charging program in Manhattan.

London traffic congestion dropped by 20 percent, and carbon emissions in the central zone similarly decreased, Livingstone said. The fee _ equal to about $16 _ has gone up since it started in 2003.

  

"People may not like paying the 5 pounds a day, but they certainly didn't want to live with that style of congestion," Livingstone said.

He said his city's next goal is to charge more for higher-polluting cars, a pricing scale that could mean a $50 equivalent charge for the worst offenders.

Organizers of the conference, which ends Thursday, also invited a number of business leaders to this year's gathering in an effort to involve the private sector. They hope to convince companies that going green _ through innovative construction, transportation alternatives and other environmental changes is a profitable economic move.  

© 2007 The Associated PressPINIONS | SPORTS | ARTS & LIVING | Discussions | Photos & Video | City Guide | CLASSIFIEDS | JOBS | CARS | 

 THE WASHINGTON POST


Clinton, Bloomberg Host Climate Summit

By SARA KUGLER   The Associated Press

Sunday, May 13, 2007 NEW YORK -- A global summit of leaders including former President Clinton convenes here this week to exchange ideas on addressing the threat of global warming.

Mayors and governors of more than 30 localities from Colombia to South Korea, along with executives from a number of international companies, will join Clinton and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg for the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit that begins Monday.

It is the second such gathering; the first was held in 2005 in London, drawing representatives of 18 cities.

The theory behind the conference is that cities must play a major role in reversing climate change, since they contribute 80 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions even though they cover less than 1 percent of the Earth's surface.

"Cities must take responsibility for our contribution to global climate change," said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is one of the participants. A spokeswoman said he will announce his own city's carbon-reduction plan Tuesday in California before attending the conference.

Greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, essentially trap solar energy from the sun. In a city like New York, buildings contribute an overwhelming majority of emissions as they consume electricity, natural gas and fuel oil.

This week's conference will feature discussions on ways to build greener cities, use renewable energy sources, transform waste into energy and work with the private sector.

Bloomberg recently unveiled his 23-year plan to make the city of 8.2 million people sustainable as the population continues to grow.

Bloomberg's most controversial proposal is to charge motorists a fee to drive into the most congested parts of Manhattan as a way to reduce traffic and pollution. The mayor often points to a similar program in London as an example of its potential success. He was scheduled to present the 

On the Net:

Climate Summit: http://www.nycclimatesummit.com/

© 2007 The Associated Press

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