by AF 0817 H3 — August 18, 2010—The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM), the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more, hosted a one-day meeting in San Francisco to discuss how cities in California are using federal stimulus dollars to make local communities more energy efficient and to create green jobs.
Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster, who serves in the Conference’s leadership and chaired the session, was joined by host San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom; Cathy Zoi, the U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; and several mayors from the state of California to discuss how Energy Efficiency Block Grants are being used for the first time to support local green projects.
First funded under last year’s Economic Recovery Plan and administered by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program is a newly created program conceived by the Conference of Mayors designed to assist mayors in reducing city energy use and climate emissions. The program allocates $2.8 billion directly to cities and counties to improve energy efficiency and spur economic growth in the green sector, providing direct formula funding to 215 cities and 13 counties in California.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors began pushing for the energy block grant in 2005 in conjunction with the introduction of a Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement — a landmark pledge for mayors across the country to take bold action to reduce carbon emissions in cities by 2012. Now, more then 1,044 U.S. mayors, representing more than 87 million people, are signed onto the Climate Protection Agreement and are committed to making local economies energy efficient.
Since the Block Grant is a key priority for USCM, the organization will also take its message to Congress this fall with a push to continue the program as means of green job creation in cities and metro areas where jobs are needed most.
For more information and a list of participants, see the USCM Web site.
