Mayor Rybak to Address Sierra Club National Council
Invitation to Speak Honors Rybak’s Leadership on Global Climate Change
May 10, 2007 (MINNEAPOLIS) -- Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak will address the Sierra Club’s National Advisory Council today and urge the organization to find more innovative ways to integrate environmentalism into more facets of the American lifestyle and economy. The Sierra Club, one of the nation’s leading environmental organizations, invited Mayor Rybak to speak to their national leadership to recognize his leadership on environmental issues, especially climate change.
“Mayor Rybak's strong leadership on local global warming solutions like energy efficiency and renewable power is setting the pace for other cities," said Glen Brand, Director of the Sierra Club's national Cool Cities campaign, which supports and encourages cities to implement smart energy solutions. “The Sierra Club invited Mayor Rybak to address its National Advisory Council to honor his leadership and to inspire other public officials to take action in their cities.”
“It’s clear that the public is beginning to clue in to the threat of global climate change” Mayor Rybak said. “The challenge before us now is to further integrate environmentally sustainable goals into more facets of everyday American life and our economy. Increasingly, being green must go hand-in-hand with making green and making environmentalism sustainable means making it profitable.”
“With less than 5% of the world’s population, the United States produces more than 25% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and those emissions are growing,” Mayor Rybak said. “As our federal leaders have failed to address this climate crisis, the leadership to reduce energy use and increase the use of renewable energy should and has been emanating from local government. But we can only make so much progress without leadership at a national level. It is time for our federal government to step up with cities and engage full-force to stem global climate change.”
Mayor Rybak’s speech to the Sierra Club comes a day after the City of Minneapolis won a major Clean Air Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its efforts to improve air quality in the city. Minneapolis is considered one of the most environmentally-friendly cities in the country, and the City has long been a leader in creating policies and practices that protect and enhance the environment.
In April 2007, the City released the first-of-its kind report, Minneapolis GreenPrint, which details the many successes Minneapolis has had in its efforts to protect our environment, and the challenges it still faces. To learn more about GreenPrint, visit www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us.
The launch of Minneapolis’ Sustainability Initiative in 2003 took the City’s commitment to the environment to a new level. As part of the initiative, the Mayor and City Council established 24 diverse sustainability indicators, which are designed to create a more ecologically sustainable city. Numerical targets were set and City departments were required to integrate sustainability goals into their operations, changing the way the City does business. To learn more about the Sustainability Initiative, visit www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/sustainability.
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