Texas Cool Cities Campaign  

What is Cool Cities?

Cool Cities is a Sierra Club-sponsored national environmental campaign. Texas Interfaith Power and Light has joined forces with the Lone Star chapter of the Sierra Club to bring the Cool Cities campaign to Central Texas.

Cool Cities urges local leaders around the country who are fed up with state and federal government inaction on global warming to take a stand and make a difference in their area.

So what is a Cool City? These are cities that have made a commitment to stopping global warming by signing the U.S. Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement. Greg Nickels. Mayor of Seattle, initiated the U.S. Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement in 2005; when a mayor signs the agreement for his or her city, he or she signs on to:

ON THIS SITE:

Become a Cool Cities Activist in Your City!

Check Out the National Cool Cities Website

What Can I Do in My Daily Life to Help the Environment?

Get Ideas: Other Cool Cities Across the Nation

Stay Updated: Recent Environmental News

Become A Cool Cities Activist in Your City!

Please email Shelby Wardlaw, the Environmental Intern, for more information on how to start a Cool Cities campaign in your city, who to contact, and how to sign up: shelby@texasimpact.org.

For Your Reference: Some Ideas for Your City

• For a step by step guide to becoming a Cool City download the official Cool Cities brochure. The brochure also has stories on successful Cool Cities across the country. The concepts are still relevant but be warned that the statistics are long outdated. Click here for the pdf document.

Get LEED building standards applied to your buildings. What are LEED standards?

Develop a Green Fleet for your city. (see Cool Cities pdf or look at the examples in the Get Ideas section of this page)

Look into Combined Heat and Power Units. What are CHPs and how do I get one?

Spread the word.

Check Out the National Cool Cities Website

The Cool Cities website has general information on the nationwide Cool Cities campaign and a full list of the cities and states involved.

Click on the Texas link in the sidebar to get a brief report on the measures taken by Texas cities so far.

What Can I Do In My Daily Life to Help The Environment?

Here is an up-to-date, easy-to-use, comprehensive page with tips for your home, business, and congregation on how to be more environmentally-friendly and energy efficient.

Get Ideas: Other Cool Cities Across the Nation

• Seattle, WA - Supposedly the "coolest" city in the country, Seattle has established a "green fleet" by downsizing and replacing all of its city-owned cars (police cars, city buses, garbage vehicles, etc.) with hybrids and by using biodiesel in many of its heavy trucks. These changes have cut the city's global warming pollution by about 2,400 tons - the equivalent of taking more than 500 cars off the road for a year.
  • Seattle also has programs underway trying to reduce the city's use of paper by 30%, encourage neighborhood-based climate protection projects through the Neighborhood Matching Fund Program, and increase the use of climate-friendly materials such as slag cement in city projects.
  • Seattle has developed one of the most comprehensive green building programs in the country.

• Albuquerque, NM - This city has a city generator that operates off methane captured from a landfill. Methane is 21 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas (www.carbonneutral.com), but when captured and used effectively can be a good source of energy.
  • Albuquerque also has a project underway to heat all city pools with solar thermal collectors and donates 3%of city bond monies to energy conservation and renewables.

• San Mateo, CA - The fans on the Transit Center in this city were recently connected to a CO2 sensor that activates them only when needed. This is expected to save the city roughly $40k.
  • Both the new Main Library and Police Headquarters will LEED certified buildings. What is a LEED certified building?

Stay Updated: Recent Environmental News

For Evidence, Look to the Weather

Just this week, July 30th to August 5th, check out the devastating weather headlines:

China Rain Storms Claim 650 Lives

Floods, Fires Ravage South Africa

Hurrican Boost "Due to Warm Sea"

China Lightning Kills Record 141

South Asia Struggles With Floods

Where the Presidential Candidates Stand on Global Warming

What will they do to reduce global warming once in office? Use this easy chart to find out candidates' positions on the issues. Click here.

New Senate and House Energy Bills Promise Change

An American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) report found that bills recently proposed in the House and the Senate would reduce U.S. oil demand by 5.3 million barrels a day in 2030! For more information on the specifics of these bills and their effects click here.

Beating the Heat: This Season and In Years To Come

The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) recently published a press release on how to update your air conditioning unit to be both energy efficient and economical. The release gives examples of the best
models for your climate type and information on how to reduce the costs
of a new unit by taking advantage of federal tax incentives. For the full text click here.

Live Earth Concerts A Success....But Will They Help?

Last Saturday July 7th, Live Earth concerts took place around the world with major music stars banding together on all seven continents to raise awareness about climate change and the necessity of global action. But the existence of the concerts themselves produced huge amounts of carbon - was it worth it? For the full story click here.

California Sets High Standards for U.S. Emissions Reductions

In the first of a series on California's "green revolution", the BBC News website reports on how the state's recent legislation to combat climate change may have sweeping effects across the United States. For the full story click here.