American cities keep fighting climate change while Congress stonewalls

Civic leaders don’t have the luxury of partisan bickering. They actually need to get things done.

Years of congressional inaction on climate change have prompted civic leaders to take matters into their own hands. “The feds have fumbled the ball, and I don’t think we need to be captive to the dysfunction that happens in D.C.,” Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz told reporters in Washington last month.

Berkowitz belongs to the Compact of Mayors, an international coalition of city officials dedicated to combating climate change. The compact currently includes 87 U.S. mayors, representing one-third of all signatories. President Obama is pushingto have at least 100 U.S. civic leaders join before December’s international climate summit, even as Republican lawmakers attempt to undermine negotiations. Speaking to an audience of U.S. mayors in June, the president said that, on climate change, “You’re making a difference right now. You’re not waiting for Congress.”

Read the rest at Grist.