What Cities are Doing:
- Four of five large cities report that sustainability and green jobs as among their top five priorities. Over 50% have completed a sustainability plan or are currently creating one.
- More than 75% of big cities have, or will soon have, detailed plans on how they will reduce greenhouse gases.
- How much big cities are investing in reducing greenhouse gases varies widely
- Several cities report that they have a single staff member dedicated to these issues, others report they have several dozen
- Two-thirds of cities say that state and federal governments have little or no impact on their work. This needs to change as new dollars flow to localities from the stimulus bill and Congress considers a federal cap-and-trade program.
- Public transit ridership is up in virtually every city; a significant number of cities say they're investing to boost mass transit.
- Cities are building more efficient buildings; almost half have programs that subsidize insulation, energy-efficient appliances and weatherization
- Just about all cities want to attract green-collar jobs and industries. A third of the cities are partnering with local colleges to create green job training programs. One in six cities have programs that place trainees in green jobs
Living Cities asked officials about the staff and funds they've committed to advancing sustainability. Nearly all said it was a challenge to come up with hard and fast figures: fighting climate change is typically handled by staff across many agencies and programs, rather than just in a single department. Nonetheless, most cities were able to at least make an educated guess as their resource commitment. Reports about budgets are similarly varied, with responses falling between $75,000 and $15 million. Most cities reported budgets between $150,000 and $500,000. Paying for their sustainability strategies is clearly one of the greatest challenges.
To help cities move forward on their sustainability efforts, Living Cities is holding a "Green Stimulus Boot Camp" from May 31 - June 2 at Harvard University. Leaders from 14 cities and states will convene for intensive training and peer networking to discuss their leading edge efforts to create jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions through large scale building retrofit initiatives.
About Living Cities
Founded in 1991, Living Cities is a unique philanthropic collaborative of 21 of the world's largest foundations and financial institutions. The group has invested over $600 million in American cities-leveraged into $16 billion across the nation. Members go beyond providing funds - they participate at the senior management level on the Living Cities Board of Directors and contribute the time of 80+ expert staff toward crafting and implementing an agenda that is squarely focused on improving the lives of low-income people and the urban areas in which they live.
Members: AARP Foundation, AXA Community Investment Program, Bank of America, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase & Company, Deutsche Bank, Ford Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, MetLife, Inc., Prudential Financial, The Rockefeller Foundation, Surdna Foundation Affiliate Members: The Cleveland Foundation, The Skillman Foundation
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Read the Green Cities Report to learn more, in particular about innovative financing strategies.
