cool city/cool county

ACTION ALERT:

Cool Cities Resolutions to be Offered in City and County Councils.
Your help is needed to ensure they pass!

After screening Al Gore’s movie An Inconvenient Truth on June 15, Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill Peduto, and Allegheny County Council President Rich Fitzgerald pledged to introduce resolutions calling on the Mayor of Pittsburgh, Bob O’Connor, and the County Executive, Dan Onorato, to sign on to the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement (informally known as the Cool Cities Agreement). This whole shebang got started thanks to Sierra Club here locally.

Over 240 cities have already signed on to the agreement, which is a first step towards curbing Global Warming. For a copy of the Agreement, please go to (http://www.seattle.gov/mayor/climate/PDF/Resolution_FinalLanguage_06-13-05.pdf ).

On Wednesday, July 5, both City Council and County Council will consider the resolutions. This is only the second time that the two councils have introduced a joint resolution on an issue. Members of both councils need to hear from you between now and Wednesday, so they know how critical this issue really is, and how widespread public support is for halting global warming.

Pittsburgh City Council Meeting
Wednesday, July 5, 10:00am
City-County Building
414 Grant Street

Allegheny County Council Meeting
Wednesday, July 5, 5:00pm
County Courthouse
436 Grant Street
4th Floor - Gold Room

TAKE ACTION! Please e-mail members of both councils; they will be receiving (and reading) e-mails over the holiday, but not necessarily checking phone messages. If you are able, please attend one or both of the council meetings to show your support. You can register to speak at County Council in support of the resolution. (At City Council, resolutions are introduced and voted upon prior to public comment, which is why e-mails to City Council are especially critical).

Sample message (City Council): Please co-sponsor the important resolution urging Mayor O’Connor to reduce greenhouse gas pollution levels in the City of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh will join 250 cities nationwide in taking action to stop global warming, in the face of a lack of leadership from the Bush Administration. The debate is over: global warming is real, and Pittsburghers want to do something about it now. Thank you! [Please be sure to leave your name, address, phone number, and e-mail, and if you live in that council district, be sure to note you are a constituent who votes and cares about this issue].

Council President Luke Ravenstahl (District 1): Luke.ravenstahl@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
Councilor Dan Deasy (District 2): Dan.deasy@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
Councilor Jeffrey Koch (District 3): Jeffrey.koch@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
Councilor Jim Motznik (District 4): Jim.motznik@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
Councilor Doug Shields (District 5): Doug.shields@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
Councilor Tonya Payne (District 6): Tonya.payne@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
Councilor Len Bodack (District 7): Len.bodack@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
Councilor Bill Peduto (District 8): Bill.peduto@city.pittsburgh.pa.us * Prime sponsor of the resolution, e-mail to thank him for his leadership.
Councilor Twanda Carlisle (District 9): Twanda.carlisle@city.pittsburgh.pa.us


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Allegheny County Council: Regular meeting of County Council is Wednesday, July 5 at 5:00 p.m. A 3-minute public comment opportunity will be available, but you must register to speak by close of business on Monday, July 3. Register online at: http://www.county.allegheny.pa.us/council/meetings/recomm.asp .

Please remember to contact your own County Council member as well as the two at-large members.

Sample Message (County Council): Please support the important resolution 2695-06 urging County Executive Dan Onorato to reduce greenhouse gas pollution levels in Allegheny County. The county will join 250 cities and counties nationwide in taking action to stop global warming, in the face of a lack of leadership from the Bush Administration. The debate is over: global warming is real, and Allegheny County wants to do something about it now. Thank you! [Please be sure to leave your name, address, phone number, and e-mail, and if you live in that council district, be sure to note you are a constituent who votes and cares about this issue].

John DeFazio (At Large): jdefazio@county.allegheny.pa.us
Dave Fawcett At Large): dfawcett@county.allegheny.pa.us
Matt Drozd (District 1): mdrozd@county.allegheny.pa.us
Jan Rea (District 2): jrea@county.allegheny.pa.us
James Burn (District 3): jburn@county.allegheny.pa.us
Micheal Finnerty (District 4): mfinnerty@county.allegheny.pa.us
Vincent Gastgeb (District 5): vgastgeb@county.allegheny.pa.us
Joan Cleary (District 6): jcleary@county.allegheny.pa.us
Susan Caldwell (District 7): scaldwell@county.allegheny.pa.us
Charles Martoni (District 8): cmartoni@county.allegheny.pa.us
Robert Macey (District 9): rmacey@county.allegheny.pa.us
William Robinson (District 10): wrobinson@county.allegheny.pa.us
Rich Fitzgerald (District 11): rfitzgerald@county.allegheny.pa.us
Rich Nerone (District 12): rnerone@county.allegheny.pa.us
Brenda Frazier (District 13): bfrazier@county.allegheny.pa.us

Don't know your district? You can find it here: http://www.county.allegheny.pa.us/council/dist.asp


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Then, let the Sierra Club know if you've contacted your council members or if you can attend either meeting by emailing them: atalouz@aol.com

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Here is the City Council Resolution (The County's is similar):

A RESOLUTION

A Resolution of the Council of the City of Pittsburgh, urging the
Mayor to take action to reduce global warming pollution levels in the
City of Pittsburgh by meeting or exceeding the Kyoto Protocol target
for the United States, which calls for a reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions by seven percent (7%) below 1990 levels by 2012.

WHEREAS, the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the
international community's most respected assemblage of scientists, has
found that climate disruption is a reality and that human activities
are largely responsible for increasing concentrations of global
warming pollution; and

WHEREAS, the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement to address
climate disruption, is in effect in the 163 countries that have
ratified it to date; with 38 of those countries having implemented
legal requirements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on average 5.2
percent below 1990 levels by 2012; and

WHEREAS, in July 2006, on the occasion of the G8 Summit, the G8
countries will gather in Russia to address the major challenges of
climate change, energy sustainability and security; and

WHEREAS, although the United States officially withdrew from the Kyoto
Protocol in 2001, over 200 cities and counties in 38 states have
pledged to reduce their global warming emissions, and these local
governments are lowering energy bills, saving taxpayer dollars, and
protecting our environment; and

WHEREAS, many cities and counties are reducing global warming
pollutants through programs that provide economic and quality of life
benefits such as reduced energy bills, green space preservation, air
quality improvements, reduced traffic congestion, improved
transportation choices, and economic development and job creation
through energy conservation and new energy technologies; and

WHEREAS, the City of Pittsburgh is committed to the effort to reduce
the United States' dependence on fossil fuels and accelerate the
development of clean, economical energy resources and fuel-efficient
technologies such as conservation, methane recovery for energy
generation, waste to energy, geothermal, wind and solar energy, fuel
cells, efficient motor vehicles, and bio-fuels; and

WHEREAS, by taking innovative, responsible energy-saving steps like
making buildings more energy efficient, promoting transportation
alternatives, reducing waste, and investing in more fuel-efficient
vehicles and clean renewable energy sources, Allegheny County is
leading the way to a better, cleaner, and safer future.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council hereby requests that
the Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh sign on to the U.S. Mayor's
Climate Protection Agreement and aim to reduce global warming
pollution levels in the City of Pittsburgh by meeting or exceeding the
Kyoto Protocol target set for the United States, which calls for a
reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by seven percent (7%) below 1990
levels by 2012, by promoting energy efficiency, promotion of clean and
affordable energy sources and systems, development of local energy
resources and systems, relying upon local industry to the greatest
extent practicable, promotion of cost-effective economic instruments
that can help to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, and
promotion of waste management and reuse/reduce/recycle activities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Council further requests that the
Mayor explore other means of increasing the City's renewable energy
use for the benefit of the City's residents and businesses, through
cost savings in lower electricity bills, protection and health of the
environment and by generating growth to the economy within the City of
Pittsburgh.

SPONSORED BY COUNCILMAN WILLIAM PEDUTO

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For more information on the Sierra Club Cool Cities campaign, visit
http://www.coolcities.us


UPDATE: At 7:50 PM, Sierra Club said...
Hi Maria,Thanks for this, just thought you and your readers would like to know that today both councils passed resolutions asking Mayor O'Connor and Mr. Onorato to sign onto the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. And both councils passed the resolution unanimously, with many if not all members in both bodies co-sponsoring.