Beyond City Limits
Fri., June 27, 2008
Mayor Will Wynn was in Miami this week for the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, a group that's been a dynamic driver of grassroots eco-reforms, especially in its 2005 passage of the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, now endorsed by more than 850 mayors. Wynn serves as the conference's energy chair and presided over the adoption of a resolution this week endorsing a 30% residential energy-efficiency improvement in the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code – as drafted by the International Code Council, which develops comprehensive national construction codes. Efficiency is seen as the single best weapon against climate change, so both mayors and greens hope to see the so-called 30% Solution adopted when the ICC meets this September. Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope urged support for the resolution, noting that "buildings consume as much as 75% of U.S. electricity ... and contribute nearly 40% of greenhouse gas emissions." The club's Cool Cities campaign, which spreads the word about the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, has enlisted 1,007 cities nationwide. Locally, Central Texas Cool Cities coordinator Terry Moore focuses on towns less progressive than Austin. Lakeway, for example, has begun looking at managing peak energy demand and urging the Pedernales Electric Cooperative to adopt some of Austin Energy's efficiency incentive programs. – Daniel Mottola
Speaker of the U.S. House Nancy Pelosi went on record Tuesday as supporting Edwards for Barack Obama's vice presidential running mate – um, that's Chet Edwards, not John. "Anyone that Barack Obama wants is my choice for vice president," Pelosi told Newsweek. "But I do think in the list of considerations there should be somebody from the House of Representatives, and Chet Edwards is a person that many of us think would be a good person to be in the mix." Edwards is a nine-term congressman who represented Texas' 11th District – which then included Fort Hood – from 1991 to 2005 and built a loyal following among military families. In 2003, the now-disgraced, then-Majority Leader Tom DeLay targeted Edwards in his re-redistricting scheme and drew Edwards out of the 11th District and into the 17th, which stretches from near Fort Worth, through Waco, and down past College Station. Despite DeLay's effort to make the district solidly Republican, Edwards' reputation for moderation helped him beat right-wing crazy state Rep. Arlene Wohlgemuth in 2004, and a 2006 challenge from Van Taylor went nowhere. – Lee Nichols
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