Mayor Cooper committed to upholding the Paris Climate Agreement- signs Climate Mayors Letter.

Metro Nashville press release - Mayor John Cooper signed on to a Climate Mayors letter sent to U.S. Congressional leaders this week, urging bold action on environmental sustainability while also building a more just economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. A network of 461 mayors committed to upholding the Paris Climate Agreement, the Climate Mayors are calling on Congress to invest in economic recovery strategies that embed resilience, equity, and sustainability in America’s cities. 

 “As mayor, I see first-hand the urgent issues facing our communities today: the ever-present threat of climate change, the challenges to public health and prosperity caused by COVID-19, and racial and economic disparities,” said Nashville Mayor John Cooper. “Cities across America are demonstrating that growth and environmental stewardship go hand in hand – and now, our federal government can show the world that investment in a zero-carbon economy has multiple co-benefits for healthcare, housing, jobs, the economy, and the resilience of our infrastructure.” 

 With a focus on recovery from the economic impacts of the pandemic, Climate Mayors are advocating a nationwide transition to a zero-carbon economy – a step many American cities are already pursuing as a means to create good-paying green jobs, clean the air and lower carbon emissions, improve public health and resilience to climate change, and lift up the nation’s most vulnerable citizens. 

The coronavirus pandemic has hit communities of color and low-income households particularly hard -- the same individuals and families in neighborhoods that suffer most from the harsh impacts of a changing climate: toxic pollution, skyrocketing temperatures, drought and wildfires, and extreme weather events like floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes. Climate Mayors are determined to build a strong, green economy that ensures all Americans are prepared for future health, economic, and environmental shocks. 

Recognizing the need to work together at every level of government to move beyond this devastating pandemic, Mayor Cooper and other Climate Mayors are urging Congress to work with state and city leadership to build new policies and amplify existing programs that have already proven effective. They list several goals for Congress to prioritize with any economic recovery package, including: 

• Build for a Better Future: Returning to the status quo is insufficient to meet the challenges of climate change and economic disparities in our communities. We must increase resolve and ambition to reinvest in municipalities. 
• Lead with Equity: Federal investment should include some level of priority for communities that have been historically underserved, including those disproportionately impacted by climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. 
• Prioritize Multiple Benefits: The best investments will also have benefits for job creation, neighborhood resilience, and better public health outcomes in cities. 

Attached to the letter is an appendix with sample policies and programs to advance a just, resilient recovery that puts Americans back to work while creating cleaner, healthier, more livable communities. These recommendations are accompanied by success stories from Climate Mayors’ member cities where similar policies and programs have led to community benefit. Locally, Mayor Cooper’s Sustainability Advisory Committee is working with his administration to produce recommended strategies for climate mitigation and adaptation that similarly infuse resilience, equity, and other benefits such as public health and neighborhood livability into Metro Nashville’s sustainability related policies and programs.

Rod's Comment: I am so disappointed in Mayor Cooper for signing on to this irrational, ideologically-driven letter.  If we wait for a zero-carbon economy we will never have a recovery. 

"Good paying green jobs" are a myth. Cooper probably knows that. The good paying green jobs only last as long as they are subsidized, unless you count jobs in nuclear energy and fracking for natural gas. Environmentalist hate both nuclear energy and fracking which accounts for a large part of the green house emissions reductions we have experienced.  Actually, nuclear energy is also subsidized and expansion has mostly been blocked by environmentalist, so about the only real good paying green jobs are in natural gas fracking which environmentalist hate.

As almost everyone knows who wants to know, The Paris Climate Agreement was not much more than a feel-good measure and would have done little to cut green house emissions.  Each country set their own plan to mitigate global warming and reported on their progress. It had no teeth. There was no mechanism that forced a country to set a specific emissions target by a specific date. Lesser developed countries were to be permitted to pollute more than developed counties however, so they could play economic catch-up.  In that sense it was an international wealth redistribution agreement. 

I am pleased President Trump got out of the agreement, but it was so insignificant, he could have just stayed in and just ignored it. The result would have been about the same. After observing the thinking of environmentalist for some time,  I am convinced that they are more about feel-good measures and symbolism than accomplishing anything and they are irrational. That is a shame, because I believe the theory of climate change is valid and steps should be taken to address it.  Getting back in to the Paris Climate Agreement will accomplish nothing except virtue signal, however. 

To read the letter of the Climate Mayors and learn more about the organization visit their website at this link. 

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