For the better part of the last two months I have traveled numerous places championing the many attributes of Fayetteville and learning from local, national and international leaders on how we can improve as a community.  

In Seattle, Washington I attended the US Mayors’ Climate Protection Summit with more than 100 mayors from around the United States.   I was asked to present  Fayetteville’s City Plan 2025 and discuss how traditional town form with walkable neighborhoods can negate potential impacts a growing community has on global climate change. Further proof of City Plan 2025’s exceptional quality was given when it was included in the US Mayors’ Climate Protection Strategies and Best Practices Guide. Our Planning Staff truly is second to none.

  The Mayors’ Climate Summit was filled with a who’s who of speakers including Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg (New York), among others.  It was an incredible opportunity for me to learn about topics such as the development of “green collar” jobs and their potential impact in US communities, the impacts of green buildings, and Energy and Environmental/Efficiency Block Grants. Former President Clinton also announced the creation of a $5 billion global effort to fight global warming by retrofitting existing buildings with more energy efficient products, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions.   Each of these initiatives can impact the social, environmental and economic well-being of our city, and I will continue to work towards this end in 2008. 

The second trip, paid for by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), was to Washington D.C. for an EPA Climate and Waste Plenary Session.  Fayetteville’s “Pay-As-You-Throw” program and our participation rate among residential recyclers is the envy of many communities around the country.  This conference also presented an opportunity to learn about the latest in community recycling initiatives and how waste reduction reduces our impact on global warming. 

On the last trip, Deborah and I were among a small contingent representing the US Council of Mayors in France, paid for by the French Embassy.  Deborah and I also took a side trip to Germany and Amsterdam.  These three countries are excellent examples of having a great lifestyle while also reducing their carbonfootprint. About 87% of France’s energy is generated using nuclear, wind, and hydro power, vastly diminishing the need to burn fossil fuels.  Germany has been incorporating green roofs on its buildings for years and has one of the highest per capita uses of renewable energy in the world. Amsterdam has one of the largest biking communities in the world with 40% of their citizens commuting to and from work on a bicycle everyday. Their bike lanes are very sophisticated, and their infrastructure is geared toward bike use.  For every one car we saw in the downtown area, there appeared to be 10 bikes in use.  While we build parking decks only for cars, they have built multi-level parking decks only for bikes, and they are packed. These are just some of the things we learned about on our trip that can inspire creative, innovative solutions for Fayetteville. 

It is important to remember that as a community we can either continue forward or slide backward; it is impossible to stay the same. Learning from other cultures’ and communities’ successes and mistakes is the best way to keep moving in the right direction. Visiting these destinations makes me appreciate Fayetteville even more. I am refreshed and ready to begin the final year of my stint as mayor.   

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 8th, 2008 at 1:17 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.