Who says that neighbouring cities have to be rivals? When it comes to green issues, it seems that the largest cities in the Bay Area of California at least, can find common ground.
In a move signalling local co-operation in the fight against climate change San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, who sent his chief of staff in his place due to a case of bronchitis, agreed to the formation of the Bay Area Climate Collaborative and called for other cities to join their efforts.
The Climate Change agreement will allow the cities to pool their resources to develop green programmes and increase their ability to obtain funding including from the Federal stimulus package.
According to Mayor Reed, working together will allow the cities to run faster times in their green efforts, while Mayor Newsom stated that the Bay Area has the “opportunity of a lifetime” to create jobs in green technology industries. In particular, he highlighted the manufacturing of electric cars stating that they need to ensure that if “someone drives south, they can actually get back north” outlining the need for recharging stations.
The compact includes 10 goals, each with deadlines, and efforts ranging from recycling to getting more electric cars on the road. One measure calls for using three per cent less petroleum by 2013 than was consumed last year and eight per cent less by 2018. There is also a goal to place 20,000 new graduates into green industry jobs by 2013.
