In a rare gathering of political muscle, former President Bill
Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair came to UCLA on Aug.
1, along with three big-city mayors, to announce what they call an
alliance that could “change the world.”
Accompanying Clinton and Blair were Los Angeles Mayor Antonio
Villaraigosa, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and London Mayor Ken
Livingstone.
The five political figures were at UCLA to announce the signing
of an alliance between the Clinton Climate Initiative and the Large
Cities Climate Leadership Group, which is a group of international
cities that have promised to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Though there is some disagreement as to the extent of global
warming and the cause of the increased temperatures over the past
50 years, scientists agree on the benefits of reducing pollution
and of making the best use possible of the planet’s
resources.
Large cities are responsible for more than 75 percent of
greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Clinton said these urban
centers can begin to drastically reduce their emissions by taking
relatively simple steps.
Included in the alliance of 22 cities are Berlin, Cairo,
Istanbul, London, Los Angeles, Rome and Paris, with more expected
to join in the next several months.
From individual students recycling and turning down the air
conditioning to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger lobbying at the United
Nations, many in California and across the globe seems to be
jumping on the eco-friendly bandwagon.
UCLA Interim Chancellor Norman Abrams said UCLA has also been
doing its part to reduce emissions and combat global warming.
UCLA has begun to decrease emissions and increase efficiency on
campus through measures that include making all campus vehicles run
on natural gas.
Democrats in the state legislature are expected to send
Schwarzenegger a bill that would be the first state bill in the
nation to cap greenhouse gas emissions from industrial sources.
Schwarzenegger is expected to sign the bill, but also wants to add
several “safety valves” that Democrats say decrease the
potency of the legislation.
In Los Angeles, Villaraigosa said he is beginning to implement
several measures to help reduce emissions, including extending the
subway to the beach and planting one million new trees.
But Los Angeles and other cities involved in the agreement may
need help in developing city-specific strategies.
“We will develop the best expertise in the world to assist
in developing and implementing plans that best work,” Clinton
said, referring to his plan to help the cities reduce greenhouse
gas emissions.
Clinton has a three-point plan for the cities involved that
includes a purchasing consortium so cities can save on eco-friendly
products, a team of experts to help the cities achieve their goals,
and a standard measurement to determine how well cities are doing
at reducing emissions.
“We’re all on the front lines of global
warming,” Villaraigosa said. “We’re the first
responders and we can’t afford to wait.”
Clinton projected a series of events that may occur if the world
continues to produce the current level of greenhouse gases,
including the polar ice caps melting and the ocean rising 15 to 20
feet. In this scenario, entire low-lying countries could be flooded
and the global climate could drastically shift.
“The consensus now is that the (environmental) tipping
point now is most probably 10 to 15 years away at best and
therefore it is incredibly urgent that we move on all fronts to
tackle this problem,” Livingstone said.
James Murakami, a UCLA meteorologist, disagrees with some of the
assertions made by Clinton and his colleagues.
“There is still always a possibility of reversing (climate
change). The key thing is how to reduce the (carbon dioxide) and
methane in the atmosphere,” he said.
But Clinton and Murakami both say emissions need to be reduced,
and UCLA is beginning a process of evaluating what the campus can
do to help.
In the future, UCLA will be surveying the greenhouse gases
emitted by the campus in a more long-term effort to reduce
emissions and conserve energy, said Nurit Katz, director of the
UCLA Sustainable Resource Center.
“The biggest things to worry about are transportation and
electricity,” Katz said. “In the next few years we hope
to have a solid plan to eventually make UCLA
climate-neutral.”