Climate Action as Resistance

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• Articulate the need for city leadership on greenhouse-gas mitigation, with an understanding of the jurisdictional challenges and opportunities.
• Identify technical challenges and opportunities associated with achieving deep-carbon emission reduction in the urban environment.
• Apply tangible best practices in your community to reduce deep-carbon emissions.

MORE SESSION DETAILS

The withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement has strengthened the resolve of many local governments to act aggressively to combat climate change. Representatives of three preeminent cities with different planning contexts – Cambridge (Mass.), New Orleans, and New York – will share how they are using the tools at their disposal to advance deep-carbon reductions. One will discuss the City of Cambridge’s 25-year Net Zero Action Plan, including the Low Carbon Energy Supply study that provides an example for communities of how to analyze their potential for renewable energy generation and energy "harvesting." Another will discuss the outcomes of New Orleans’s recently released Climate Action Plan, which provides a roadmap for a 50-percent reduction in GHG emissions. Learn about the unique opportunities available to New Orleans to shape its energy supply, as a city with regulatory authority over its electric utility. A third speaker will present the “1.5°C: Aligning New York City with the Paris Climate Agreement” report, which reaffirms New York’s commitment to the goals and objectives of the Paris Agreement and provides an accelerated action plan to reduce emissions in the nation’s largest city, while supporting long-term growth, resiliency, sustainability, and equity.