Mayors of over 40 cities have signed agreeement to "prepare and protect their communities" from climate change.
from grist
"Since the 2007 release of PlaNYC, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s sustainability vision, the city has chipped away steadily at its carbon emissions, cutting them to 13 percent below 2005 levels already. But nothing New York does on its own to mitigate climate change can save the city from future Sandys and the sea-level rise that will make such storms even more destructive going forward.
"Last week, Bloomberg unveiled an ambitious, expensive plan to fortify the city against the kind of extreme weather that’s fast becoming the “new normal.” The event amplified a message more local leaders are embracing: Climate change is already upon us, and adapting to it will be essential to prevent massive losses of money and life.
"On Monday, the mayors of Washington, DC, Denver, Nashville, and 42 other US cities signed a Resilient Communities for America agreement, pledging 'to prepare and protect their communities from the increasing disasters and disruptions fueled by climate change.' According to a press release about the campaign, $1 spent on disaster preparation saves $4 in potential losses (consider that Hurricane Sandy caused almost $20 billion of damage). The local leaders also called for more support and cooperation from the federal government. Although, as Bloomberg himself has pointed out, cities are in an ideal practical position to start taking immediate climate action, the scale of work to be done to strengthen urban infrastructure requires all the federal dollars they can get. …"
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