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Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson will tout his efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions to a worldwide audience - again.
He is the only U.S. mayor invited to speak at the U.N.-sponsored International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives' Conference of the Parties' 10th meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, this weekend.
While he's garnered international attention for such efforts as using software to track greenhouse gas emissions, adding natural gas-powered vehicles to the city's fleet and purchasing wind power, Anderson's efforts haven't picked up support closer to home.
But that might change.
The mayor said Monday he has urged Gov.-elect Jon Huntsman Jr., Salt Lake County Mayor-elect Peter Corroon and University of Utah President Michael Young to join his efforts to not only prevent global warming, but improve air quality.
It was a point Anderson hammered home Monday as he ate breakfast with Young at The Point restaurant at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, high on Salt Lake City's east bench. Instead of breathtaking views as promised by the restaurant's Web site, the two men got an eyeful of smog.
"I truly think any elected official is in dereliction of his or her duty to those they presently serve and to the future if they are not constantly focused on making and implementing public policy [based] on the environmental consequences both locally and globally of their decisions," Anderson said in an interview following the breakfast.
He leaves Friday for Argentina and will return Dec. 15. According to City Hall, the trip will be paid for by a federal grant awarded to the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI).
Susan Ode, outreach officer for that organization, said Salt Lake City has shown how local governments can "lead the way. Mayor Anderson and the city - they're inspirations to everybody in the world. Since they voted to participate in [ICLEI's Cities for Climate Protection campaign, which aims to reduce global warming and air pollution], 75 cites have followed."
COP 10, as the meeting in Argentina is called, will highlight the impacts of climate change and ways to mitigate it.
It will also analyze the effects of the Kyoto Protocol, which commits nations to cut greenhouse-gas emissions.
The United States is not part of the Kyoto accord, but Anderson committed to the goal in 2002. It calls for a 7 percent reduction in greenhouse gasses from 1990 levels by the year 2012.
In 2002, Salt Lake City reduced greenhouse-gas emissions by 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide, or its equivalent. Since then, the decrease has jumped to 4,800 tons a year through such efforts as buying wind power, using energy-efficient bulbs in traffic signals, installing low-watt bulbs at City Hall and using methane captured at the landfill to produce electricity.
In his three speeches, Anderson will speak about those efforts, along with the city's elimination of 35 SUVs from its fleet, its 87 percent increase in recycling, and its promotion of mass transit, walking and bicycling. The city also has purchased three-wheeled parking-enforcement vehicles, which use one-eighth the gasoline of previous vehicles.
The trip marks the second time Anderson has presented to a world audience the city's efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. He traveled to New Delhi in 2002 for a similar conference.
"The recognition is only important in leveraging what we're doing into an even greater effect by other communities following our lead," Anderson said.