It’s Time for Cities to Unify Their Voices on Climate
Last night Charlottesville City Council unanimously voted to sign onto the We Are Still In (WASI) letter to the Virginia General Assembly in support of climate action. The letter advocates for Virginia to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), set Clean Energy Standards, remove barriers to clean energy, and implement policies and programs that reduce transportation emissions.
It is our sincere hope of the Charlottesville Climate Collaborative (C3) that this signals a trend where climate-minded communities realize their collective power and unify their voices to advance state-level climate action.
When the Trump administration pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement there was an extraordinary reaction. Businesses, universities, and cities like Charlottesville began making their own commitments to ambitious climate action. Over 3,000 entities, including the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County, have joined this coalition and made bold commitments to stay in the Paris Climate Agreement. 88% of Virginia’s population lives in urban and suburban communities; therefore Virginia cities, in particular have an incredible ability to act swiftly to reduce emissions. The power to act on climate really can begin at home.
Imagine if Virginia cities and counties all used the power of that 88% to ask Virginia state decision makers to act. Right now, the Virginia General Assembly is considering a number of proposals to advance climate action. Charlottesville, Albemarle, Blacksburg, Richmond, Arlington, Alexandria, and Roanoke have all set ambitious emission reduction goals, and now is the time for these communities to unify their voices and demand the adoption of state-level policies to help them achieve their climate targets.
Policies passed at the Virginia General Assembly can help cities by increasing funding for energy efficiency programs and public transportation and removing barriers to renewable energy.
C3 is grateful to the City of Charlottesville and Town of Blacksburg, both of which signed onto the We Are Still In letter last night. We hope that this will be the first of many opportunities for climate-minded communities to use their collective power to demand the changes that are essential to help all of us avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change.