Mayors of the World's Cities Join Obama, the EPA, Congress, the UN, World Bank and IMF in the Drive to Enact Carbon Taxes

Financing climate change adaptation and mitigation will need to be addressed by the international community in the UN climate change conference scheduled for the end of 2009 in Copenhagen. Several economists and most recently, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), have been advocating carbon taxation to mitigate climate externalities, and the potential such a tax might have in generating additional revenues for public finances... The IMF has recently argued in preference over direct regulation or performance standards that a tax on the most important energy-related greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2), would be the most economically efficient way for managing climate change... In support of the proposal, the IMF has conducted macroeconomic policy calculations for a uniform global carbon tax in advanced, emerging and developing countries based on a common carbon price. All countries are assumed to introduce the tax in 2013. - Frank Schroeder, UN Economic Affairs Officer, Carbon Taxes for Managing Climate Change, G-24 Policy Brief No. 27

Cities Should Step Up Climate Change Fight: World Bank

Cities — home to half the world's population — face potentially dire consequences from climate change. However, they often fall short when it comes to addressing the issue, according to an analysis of urban policies. “Climate change is a deeply local issue and poses profound threats to the growing cities of the world,” said Patricia Romero Lankao at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, who conducted the analysis. “But too few cities are developing effective strategies to safeguard their residents... Cities can have an enormous influence on emissions by focusing on mass transit systems and energy- efficient structures. But local leaders face pressures to build more roads and relax regulations that could reduce energy use.” - World's Cities Unprepared for Climate Change, Live Science, April 7, 2011

December 3, 2010

Reuters - Cities should play a much bigger role in fighting global warming and can act more easily than governments struggling to agree on a U.N. climate accord, the World Bank said on Friday.

"The 10 biggest cities in the world emit more greenhouse gases than Japan," Andrew Steer, the World Bank's special envoy for climate change, told Reuters. He urged reforms including changes to carbon markets to help cities become greener.

A World Bank study said that urban areas, home to just over half the world's population and responsible for two-thirds of greenhouse gas emissions, could help by shifting to greener transport, clean energy or better trash recycling.

"Cities are the most important cause of climate change and cities are the most important potential solution to climate change," Steer said. And they have huge economic power.

The report said that the world's 50 biggest cities had a combined gross domestic product behind only that of the United States, ahead of China. It listed Tokyo and New York as having bigger economies than Canada or Turkey.

"When you have 194 countries in the world it's not always easy to get consensus," he said of U.N. climate talks, which are seeking to agree a modest package of measures to slow global warming at November 29 to December 10 talks in Cancun.

More than 1,000 U.S. mayors, for instance, signed on in 2008 to targets to cut greenhouse gases in line with the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol, an accord binding almost 40 nations to curb emissions until 2012 but never ratified by Washington.

SEA LEVELS

And many of the world's biggest cities, such as Tokyo, Shanghai, New York or Buenos Aires, are near coasts or rivers and so have compelling reasons to act to limit risks of floods or sea level rise.

He said the World Bank favored an overhaul of a U.N. market mechanism that encourages investments in individual projects in developing nations, such as solar panels in Morocco or hydropower in Honduras, to allow a broader, city-wide scale.

Such a reform of the U.N.'s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) would allow mayors to get money and allow them to invest in areas ranging from flood barriers to hydrogen-powered buses, rather than getting each individual project approved.

"Our view is that measurement challenges are not overwhelming for cities as a whole," he said. The CDM allows companies to invest in green projects in developing nations and claim credits back home for the averted emissions.

Steer also said that city-dwellers' views of where it was best to live were shifting -- in past decades, when industrial air pollution was high, areas downwind such as the east side of London were home to the poor.

In future, the poor would live in low-lying areas at risk of river floods or rising sea levels.

Bloomberg Calls for Carbon Tax

November 16, 2010

Wall Street Journal — New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday that he’s in favor of a carbon tax –- a view not shared by many political leaders of either party in Washington.

Bloomberg, speaking to a group of chief executives at the Wall Street Journal CEO Council, said the U.S. needs to reduce its dependence on foreign oil if “you want to stop sending your money to…terrorists.”

The answer: “We need a carbon tax,” he said.

Bloomberg, an independent, criticized the now-moribund Democratic proposal to develop a nationwide “cap and trade” system for limiting U.S. carbon dioxide emissions by requiring companies to buy tradeable permits for the right to emit greenhouse gases under a steadily declining economy wide cap.

“Cap and trade is filled with so many special interests,” he said.

The mayor downplayed speculation that he may consider a run for president, saying he had a great job already. He more forcefully dismissed the idea of an independent candidacy.

“The Republicans and Democrats, no matter who their candidates are, no matter who,” would have the advantage, he said. An independent couldn’t get a majority, Bloomberg explained, and if the electoral collage produced no winner the election would go to the House of Representatives.

“And in the next election, the Republicans would pick the president,” he said.

Flashback: Mayors Leading the Way on Climate Protection

"Mayors have single-handedly taken action on climate protection efforts and in many cases, creatively launched local energy efficiency programs to help reduce our carbon footprint in American cities." - Tom Cochran, CEO & Executive Director, U.S. Conference of Mayors

July 2009

The United States Conference of Mayors - Mayors are on the front lines of impacting human behavior - from their work on recycling, to aids prevention, and prostate cancer, they are changing human behavior every day. This is one of many reasons why 1044 mayors continue to join The U.S. Conference of Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement, vowing to reduce carbon emissions in their cities below 1990 levels, in line with the Kyoto Protocol. Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels was the founder of this movement.

Under the leadership of The Conference, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program was conceived, making it possible for the first time in U.S. history, for cities, counties and states to receive grants specifically to fund energy-efficiency projects. This program was a top priority of the Mayors' 10-Point Plan and the Mayors' MainStreet Recovery Program. The Obama Administration earlier this year, acted to distribute $2.8 billion for EECBG, included in the Recovery Package (ARRA), which will benefit hundreds of U.S. cities.

Read More...