Twenty U.S. cities and counties have achieved significant milestones in reducing their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, according to ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA.
Austin, TX; Pittsburgh, PA; and Seattle, WA were honored for moving
through all five steps of the carbon reduction process outlined by ICLEI.
Since 1993, ICLEI USA has held 130 ‘Five Milestone’ recognition events for
local governments. Since then, more than 300 local governments have
received recognition for their various Milestone accomplishments. Over
the past year, the pace of Milestone attainment has accelerated, with 52
local governments completing one or more.
The Five Milestones process includes: 1) measuring GHG emissions, 2) setting realistic emissions reduction goals, 3) developing hands-on climate action plans, 4) implementing those plans, and 5) monitoring and evaluating progress.
“The Milestone Awards recognize the great work of our cities, towns, and counties that are actively engaged in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and want a better quality of life for their residents,” said Mayor Patrick Hays, City of North Little Rock, AR, and President of the Board of Directors, ICLEI USA. “Each step of our Five Milestone process is critically important to ensuring local success and achieving measurable reductions.”
Other communities honored for
progress in the earlier steps include Stamford, CT; Park City, UT; Las
Vegas, NV; Charlottesville, VA; and Fairbanks, AK.
“Through the success of the Five Milestone process, local governments are on track to reduce GHG emissions by 1.36 billion metric tons by 2020–the equivalent of taking 25 million passenger vehicles off the road for 10 years–an incredible achievement being led by our local governments,” said Martin Chávez, Executive Director, ICLEI USA and three-term Mayor of Albuquerque, NM.
As a nonprofit membership organization, ICLEI USA provides the expertise, technical support, training and innovative tools to help local governments advance their climate, energy and sustainability goals.
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