28 July 2009, Chicago, USA

New York and Chicago lodged a major complaint in a New York Times/ClimateWire article: They feel ignored by Congress as it refines and debates the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES), also known as the Waxman-Markey bill. Due to their size, both cities are large greenhouse gas emitters. However, they are also major leaders in the movement to reduce those emissions and mitigate climate change.

Cities are key to climate mitigation and they are on the front lines of facing the impacts of climate change. So why, say officials from both cities, shouldn’t a chunk of mitigation and adaptation funding (generated by cap-and-trade revenues) be channelled directly to them? Instead, funding would be distributed to states to then decide who gets it.

Adam Freed, deputy director of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, sums up the sentiment:

"One of the biggest disappointments we have with Waxman-Markey is that cities are absolutely invisible in the bill. We control local building codes, local zoning codes, local energy codes [and] emergency management -- very important adaptation tools. Yet all the responsibility for adaptation planning is on the state."

Cities and counties engaging federal leaders on climate change priorities is not new. In December 2008, more than 370 local elected officials submitted the Blueprint for Climate Action to the Obama Administration and the 111th Congress, outlining proposed federal policies and funding to empower local climate action. During Local Climate Action week that same month, they advocated for a green and localized stimulus package.

In May 2009, 200 local elected officials, sustainability coordinators, energy managers, and others  -- all members of ICLEI and Climate Communities -- gathered in Washington D.C. for the Local Climate Leadership Summit. They met with Administration and Congressional leaders to express support for Waxman-Markey, shine the light on local initiatives and local priorities, and make the case for ongoing federal funding to expand their already successful efforts.