by Rebecca Walker — October 24, 2008 The US Conference of Mayors has formed the Mayors’ Alliance for Green Schools, which will work with the U.S. Green Building Council toward the goal of making the nation’s schools environmentally friendly within a generation.
Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, president of the US Conference of Mayors, Mayor Greg Nickels of Seattle, who spearheaded the Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement in 2005, and Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chairman of the USGBC, announced the launch of the joint effort recently.
Other mayors calling for support of the program include Gavin Newsom of San Francisco, Calif., Will Wynn of Austin, Texas, Sheila Dixon of Baltimore, Md., Frank Cownie of Des Moines, Iowa, and George Heartwell of Grand Rapids, Mich.
The mayors and the USGBC said alliance initiatives include developing partnerships with local businesses to enable schools to plant green roofs, start solar gardens or begin recycling programs. The group will also help high school districts green their campuses under the Clinton Climate Initiative’s K-12 Retrofit Program.
For more information, see the Web site of the US Green Building Council
