Fridley Considers Agreement to Tread More Lightly on Earth
By Sarah Moran
The Star Tribune
November 7, 2006

Officials are deciding whether the city should agree to implement steps intended to reduce the city's effects on the environment.

Fridley could become the latest U.S. city to agree to a set of guidelines aimed at cutting pollution, conserving energy and slowing global warming, but some officials have reservations.

Residents in Fridley are asking the city to sign the agreement, and it has officials talking about the city's role in protecting the environment. One council member says the city is already doing all it can.

As of Nov. 1, at least 325 cities had signed onto the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, including New York, Los Angeles, St. Paul, Duluth, Apple Valley and Eden Prairie.

The agreement calls for cities to take Earth-friendly steps -- for example, when buying equipment and appliances, the city should buy those that qualify for Energy Star, a government-backed program that encourages energy efficiency. Cities that sign on should increase recycling rates and promote transportation by bike, public transit and carpool. They should speed up development of wind and solar energy and use biofuels in city vehicles.

Fridley Mayor Scott Lund said local government should be proactive and set standards for residents and businesses.

"Every individual, business, government agency -- everyone pollutes, and everyone should have some involvement in preserving our natural resources, preserving our ecology and our environment," he said.

Council Member Ann Bolkcom agreed that cities, just like individuals, should play a role. But she wanted more specifics about parts of the agreement that support the Kyoto protocol on limiting emissions and ask Congress to pass certain environmental protection acts.

City staff are looking into those points. Fridley's version of the act could play down specifics on Kyoto and Congressional acts, as well as other requirements such as using biofuels.

Council Member Rick Wolfe said he isn't buying into the agreement.

"I don't know what the city can do more than what we're doing right now," he said. "We have an extremely aggressive recycling program."

Wolfe also said he isn't convinced that global warming is happening or that requirements like using biofuel are better for the environment. He also questioned whether the support behind the agreement is enough to make a difference.

"Only 300 mayors, that's a pretty small number if you take the whole United States," he said.

Cynthia Anderson, one of the residents asking the city to sign on, said this is an example of thinking globally and acting locally.

"If everybody did what they could do as an individual or as a city, we would make a tremendous contribution to solving and addressing this problem," she said. "Each city that acts on this or addresses the problem of global warming sends a message to others. It gets a conversation going, it gets people thinking."

Anderson and resident Connie Metcalf approached the city after hearing about it from a local chapter of Citizens for Global Solutions, an organization that encourages cooperation to solve global problems.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels started the agreement in 2000. John Mauro, climate policy analyst for Seattle, said there is a cost to implementing the requirements but there also are savings in the long run. Mauro said the mayors who are following the agreement represent 46 states, 53 million people and nearly 20 percent of the U.S. population.

Whether Fridley will soon be among those cities is set to be determined at the Nov. 20 council meeting.

"I feel it is a real danger facing us, a critical issue and that we can do something about it," said Metcalf, one of the residents. "If we're not getting help from our federal government or even our state government, it can start at the grass-roots level."

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