Last Week Around the -ISTs
Schieffer's Out of Gov Race
Austin Mayor Will Wynn, long a proponent of green energy, has his sights set on an even bigger target: global warming.
Back in February, Wynn unveiled the Austin Climate Protection Plan, whose ambitious goals are eliminating all carbon dioxide emissions from municipal activities by 2020 and running all City buildings and vehicles using renewable energy sources.
"Austin has long been a national leader on energy efficiency, renewable power and innovative technologies," said Wynn earlier this year. "Now we need to push those efforts to the next level."
Part of those efforts is a massive public awareness campaign, which Wynn himself is kicking off this weekend at the Alamo Downtown. On Sunday, he'll be delivering the global warming slideshow presentation shown in An Inconvenient Truth. Wynn, who trained with former Vice President Al Gore back in January to give this talk, is so comfortable with the subject matter that he encourages attendees to "familiarize [themselves] with all sides of the issues," and, in order to spice up the afternoon presentation, to bring along a skeptic.
Two presentations will be given; both are free, but it's highly recommended that you reserve a seat by purchasing a $5 food/beverage voucher.
Related:
"Austinites need to think globally and act locally"
Mayor Will Wynn: Global Warming Presentation
Sunday, June 10th
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown
4pm and 7pm
Free [Reservations]
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Mr. Wynn,
Stick to the job you were elected to do and leave us alone.
I don't understand why the city of Austin should spend $1.2 million to develop and start implementing a climate protection plan, while the rest of the state leads the nation in CO2 emissions, the federal government refuses to regulate CO2, and world CO2 emissions continue to rise with no end in sight. I'm all for energy efficiency when it makes sense from a cost/benefit perspective, but spending a bunch of local money on a global problem strikes me as a mistake. Global warming needs to be addressed globally. I think the city of Austin is wasting its time trying to save the world on this one.
The goals actually listed are modest enough that any foregone tax money is likely to be small - and one could just chalk it up to our desire to be responsible, Unlike Those Jackasses At The State Level. Note he's just talking about emissions from government activity, not from private businesses - heck, even TXDOT bought a couple of Priuses.
Agreed. It's a valiant effort, to be sure, this idea of "well, if the state/country won't tackle this problem, well then the city will." I'm all for local problem-solving, especially when our state and federal governments have both proven themselves to be ineffectual, but this one's probably best dealt with at higher levels of government.
Mayor, you can talk dirty to me anytime.