Why More Cities Should be Like Seattle

After reading the article "The Carbon-Neutral City" I made the realization that more cities should model themselves after Seattle. The author of this article, Richard Conlin, talk about how the Seattle City Council approved of a new resolution, Resolution 31321. According to this resolution, Seattle is planning on reducing their net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by the year 2050. This resolution is also preparing the city for "the likely impacts of climate change". This resolution, which has taken a year to finalize, is focusing the the top three biggest emission sectors: building energy, transportation, and waste. Conlin states that, "This action is a historical and significant step in our quest to stabilize the Earth's climate. Seattle becomes one of the first city governments in the world to declare that the goal of being cultural neutral-reducing our net (GHG) emissions to zero-is desirable, realistic, and attainable".

Seattle originally started to cut down on their emissions in 2001 by adopting the goal of the Kyoto Protocol. By doing this, they have reduced their GHG emissions by seven percent in 2010. Conlin states that, "Now the impacts of climate change are increasing, and the Copenhagen Accord of 2009 acknowledged that the world must reduce carbon emissions by more than 80 percent by 2050 if we are to avoid the risks of catastrophic impacts".  To me, that is extremely scary.  It is so scary and frightening to think that if we do not change the way that we are living, we may not even have a planet to live on.  It is frightening to think that it cannot be predicated on what would happen to this planet if action to change how we are living are not made.

"The resolution launches the Climate Action Plan update, which will be the next major step in the process," Conlin explains. This plan outlines four steps that will help cut down some of the emissions and help aid the climate change. What we need to do first is, "Evaluating potential changes in City regulations and policies, incentives for private action, intergovernmental coordination at the regional, state, and federal level, and public education campaigns;". Secondly, we need to learn how "Addressing how offsets and other beneficial City actions can be used to reach climate goals, such as urban and watershed forest management, recycling, and energy conservation and renewable energy resource development that could help position City Light as a climate restoration utility;". Thirdly, we have to be able to "Identifying how climate protection and adaptation actions can be integrated with City economic development objectives;". Lastly, we need to figure out how "Developing strategies (including consumption-based GHG reduction strategies) for businesses, households, and individuals to contribute to climate protection through their purchases, participation in the Local Food Action Initiative and other means".

I think that this is amazing what Seattle is doing. They see that there is a major problem going on with our environment and they are choosing to do something about it. They are taking the right and necessary steps in changing our environment for the better. I think that more cities need to do what Seattle is doing. If more cities do these steps, that would clearly cut down everybody's carbon footprint and help cut down all of the environmental issues that we are currently dealing with today. I think that if more and more cities take the on the precautions of what is going to happen to our planet, that it would further any potentially problems from happening, or maybe even stop it in general. By doing this, this is going to help save our planet, and having the Earth be around longer.