Mayor Signs Climate Agreement
Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor has become the 500th Mayor in the
United States to sign the U.S. Conference of Mayor's Climate
Protection Agreement. With this signing, the Mayor pledges to take
steps to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases in Tulsa and to
work toward making Tulsa a sustainable community.
"I'm joining with other Mayors across the United States in this
agreement," said Mayor Kathy Taylor. "We all must begin to address
this in our cities, and to take steps toward making our cities
sustainable and to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gasses. "
The Protection Agreement was initiated by Mayor Nickels of
Seattle, WA., and his Office of Sustainability and the Environment
on Feb. 16, 2005, the same day the Kyoto Treaty took effect in the
141 nations that ratified it. On June 13, 2005, the Agreement was
formally adopted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The Climate
Agreement then began circulating around the country to Mayors'
offices.
"The demand for action on climate protection is growing every
day, in big cities and small towns, in the heartland and on the
coasts," said Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, who launched the U.S.
Mayors Climate Protection Agreement two years ago. "Thanks to the
leadership of Mayor Taylor, this grassroots coalition of cities has
reached an important milestone. With Tulsa, we are now 500 strong
and growing. Each city that joins brings new perspectives and new
ideas for tackling the growing threat of climate disruption. And
the city of Tulsa's effort to improve energy efficiency is a great
example. By joining together across America, we are making a
difference for the future of our planet."
With the addition of Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor's signature, the
agreement will have been signed by 500 mayors who represent over 64
million citizens. The nonbinding agreement pledges that the city
will strive to meet or exceed the reduction of emissions to 7
percent below the 1990 level by the year 2012. Tools have been
developed to assist cities in reaching this goal. One such tool is
The Seattle Climate Action Plan. This Plan serves as an example not
only of ways to reduce emissions but to clean the air, save money,
thrive economically and make cities more livable.
To view the agreement, visit www.seattle.gov/mayor/climate.
