In a National Public Radio report that led with Boulder’s carbon tax initiative, “All Things Considered” on July 31 examined how mayors across the nation aren’t waiting for federal action to combat climate change, but are taking the task on themselves (link).

Boulder Mayor Mark Ruzzin is quoted as explaining the targeting of electricity usage: “Electricity is the major contributor to the community’s greenhouse gas emissions, so it is the elephant in the living room, so to speak, and taxing that consumption makes a lot of sense.”

The report goes on to cite similar activity in other cities, from smaller towns like Fort Wayne, Ind., and Austin, Texas, to megacities like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

But adding some leavening to the enthusiasm over these efforts is David Morris of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Says Morris: “This is going to be very challenging.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 1st, 2007 at 8:38 pm and is filed under Government, Other Cities, Other States. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.