NRDC leads the attack on energy waste in U.S cities
City Energy Project, led by the Natural Resources Defense Council, will help mayors develop aggressive plans for tackling energy waste with the goal of saving $1 billion in energy costs annually across the ten participating cities
Led by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Institute for Market Transformation (IMT), the City Energy Project will assist mayors develop aggressive plans for tackling energy waste across ten cities.
The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Kresge Foundation, with $9 million in seed funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, have set up a multi-year effort to boost efficiency in buildings across ten cities. in what is beingt described as the strongest coordinated effort between U.S. cities on energy efficiency.
The ten cities are Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Orlando, Philadelphia and Salt Lake City and the goal of the project is to save $1 billion in energy costs annually.
Over the next year, each city will create a comprehensive plan for monitoring and incentivising efficiency in large buildings. The programme will not be prescriptive, so every city can develop its own plan based on local conditions.
Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg helped channel $3 million over the next three years into the initiative through his philanthropic organisation, and is consulting with other mayors about how to develop their programmes.
During Bloomberg's tenure, New York reduced its carbon emissions by 19 per cent, and it is headed toward a 30 per cent reduction by 2017.
This new project is designed to create a collaborative process for mayors to learn from other cities like New York. They will set targets for building efficiency, develop transparent policies and monitor progress closely over the coming years.
The announcement comes one week ahead of the C40 meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, where leaders from the world's top cities will discuss their climate action plans. By 2015, there will likely be more than 3,000 cities with greenhouse gas reduction plans in place, according to the World Resources Institute.
It will be another year before the participating U.S. cities put their plans in place. Over the next three years, performance will be tracked in deep detail and used as case studies for smaller cities.
