In the era of Trump, one bright spot remains what's happening in cities across the nation. Here are some numbers: 402 U.S. mayors have endorsed the Paris Agreement and announced their intention of meeting its goals, while 118 have endorsed the goal of making their cities 100 percent renewable. A bit of quick research provides a sample of what some major cities are already up to:
Atlanta. Atlanta's city council has set ambitious goals: 100 percent renewable energy for city operations by 2025 and for the entire city a decade later.
Chicago. Chicago commissioned climate scientists to report on how climate change would impact the city. The report cites more heat waves and heavier rains and snows. The mayor has announced a plan to power city buildings with 100 percent renewable energy by 2025. The city has adopted an elaborate climate change adaptation plan.
Houston and Dallas. Houston's city government now gets 89 percent of its power from wind and solar, while Dallas gets 100 percent from wind. Austin is also at 100 percent.
Los Angeles. LA Metro, the LA Department of Transportation and LA City Council committed to using only electric buses by 2030. A new community choice program allows consumers to opt for heavy or even complete reliance on renewables in their energy mix.
Miami. The Miami-Dade website says, "There is consensus among the world's leading scientists that Southeast Florida is one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change. Miami-Dade County has been in the forefront of addressing these issues for many years, particularly potential flooding impacts." Miami-Dade also has an elaborate energy efficiency program. South Miami now requires solar installations for all new homes.
Phoenix. Phoenix aims to get 15 percent of its energy from renewables by 2025 and to be carbon neutral by 2060. The city already ranks third in the nation for solar power.
New York City. According to the Guardian, "New York City has already earmarked billions of dollars to retrofit 1 million buildings to make them more energy-efficient, electrify its municipal vehicle fleet, plant thousands of trees and coat rooftops in solar panels." The goal is to reduce emissions 80 percent by 2050.
San Francisco. Also according to the Guardian, in "2015, the city measured its greenhouse gas emissions at 28 percent below 1990 levels—despite the city's population growing nearly 20 percent, and a robust bump in its gross domestic product of 78 percent."
Cross-posted from Legal Planet.
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Daniel Farber | May 17, 2018
In the era of Trump, one bright spot remains what's happening in cities across the nation. Here are some numbers: 402 U.S. mayors have endorsed the Paris Agreement and announced their intention of meeting its goals, while 118 have endorsed the goal of making their cities 100 percent renewable. A bit of quick research provides […]
Matt Shudtz | May 15, 2018
CPR President Rob Verchick recently sat down to talk with one of our newest Member Scholars, Professor Laurie Ristino of Vermont Law School, about the connections between climate change, food security, and policymaking tools like the Farm Bill that could be better used to promote sustainable agricultural practices. We’re excited to share an audio recording […]
Katie Tracy | May 14, 2018
The White House released its Spring 2018 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions on May 9 with little fanfare. A close examination of the agenda for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) shows that protecting worker health and safety is anything but a priority for the Trump administration. Rather, the agency will continue […]
James Goodwin | May 10, 2018
Yesterday, six senators, led by Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, criticized Trump administration "regulatory czar" Neomi Rao and her office for what appears to have been a slapdash review of a highly controversial Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) draft policy designed to stifle the agency's progress on advancing environmental and public health protections. Rao is […]
Daniel Farber | May 10, 2018
Texas and Puerto Rico both got hit very hard last year by major hurricanes. But the federal government moved a lot more quickly to get help to Texas. In a new paper, I document the difference and explore the reasons. Although I won’t go into all the details here, this is a situation people need […]
James Goodwin | May 2, 2018
Over the last couple of weeks, conservatives in Congress have continued their assault on public safeguards using the once-obscure and once-dormant Congressional Review Act (CRA). If their latest adventure succeeds, it will be the 16th public protection that these members, working with in concert with President Donald Trump, have obliterated over the last year, laying […]
Katie Tracy | May 1, 2018
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA/FSIS) proposed a rule on Feb. 1 to alter inspection procedures for hog slaughter plants by revoking the existing cap on maximum line speeds and transferring key inspection tasks from USDA inspectors to private plant workers. These changes to current practices raise numerous concerns for […]
Daniel Farber | April 30, 2018
“They sat at the Agency and said, ‘What can we do to reimagine authority under the statutes to regulate an area that we are unsure that we can but we’re going to do so anyway?'” When he said those words, Scott Pruitt was talking about the Obama administration. But it seems to be a pretty […]
Laurie Ristino | April 25, 2018
Last week, the House Agriculture Committee passed a pock-marked, micro-legislated Farm Bill along strict party lines. It’s a shameful goody bag of legislative delights for a few that comes at the expense of the majority of the American people. Some lowlights: The bill holds our hungriest Americans hostage by conditioning SNAP benefits (food stamps) on […]