Here’s another great video from Future360 on “what a mayor can do to green a city.” Below the video, you can also see a text summary from Future360. Before the reposts, I’ll just note that Mayor Villaraigosa of LA and Former Mayor Miller of Toronto have been tremendous green leaders in many, many arenas — which is of course why they were included in this Green Cities panel. Mayors around the world should take a look at what they’ve done, replicate some of it, and build on the rest. Thanks to Sarah Backhouse for filming this discussion and getting it out to more people.
Future360.tv attended the UCLA Institute for Environment and Sustainability panel discussion on Green Cities with the Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa and the Former Mayor of Toronto, David Miller. Both Mayors spoke about efforts to make their city more sustainable.
Growing up in smog filled Los Angeles in the 1950s, Villaraigosa spoke of his vision to clean up the city’s air, transforming LA from a city of smog, to a city of sustainability. In a couple of weeks, the Mayor will be signing an agreement to make Los Angeles coal free by 2025. Villaraigosa spoke about the importance of energy efficiency, water conservation and recycling, as the gamechanging initiatives to clean up the port — lowering emissions, diesel particulates, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. Villaraigosa also talked about the importance of making Los Angeles a hub for clean energy technologies with the establishment of the Cleantech Corridor.
David Miller talked about his environmental success as Mayor of Toronto. Leverage the fact that the citizens of Toronto wanted change, Miller was able to pass a climate change plan — with massive funding into the billlions of dollars — through council unanimously. Miller spoke about the importance of leadership and the ability to make real practical change that people can see, like on the issue of smog. Miller also spoke about engaging the community in environmental issue by making ambassadors of the cause. In Toronto, Miller launched an initiative to engage citizens in areas of urban farms, rooftop solar and geothermal projects. 120 million dollars was invested into the project in the form of micro grants.
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