Monterey joins Cool Cities Club

by Denyse Frischmuth

The Monterey City Council endorsed unanimously, on July 3rd, the UN Urban Environmental Accords and the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, thus becoming the second city in Monterey County (Pacific Grove signed last October) to join forces with hundreds of other US cities who have pledged to reduce their CO2 emissions and promote sustainability practices. Mayor Della Sala signed the documents in a beautiful outdoor ceremony attended by 85 people in front of historic Colton Hall. On the same occasion, Mayor Della Sala was presented with the Sierra Club Cool Cities certificate.

Green practices and their benefits are not new to Monterey, as Mayor Della Sala stated in his speech, enumerating the sustainability practices already in place in Monterey and the financial benefits these measures bring to the City. With this signing of the Environmental Accords and the US Mayors Agreement, the City of Monterey is pledging to implement specific actions regarding CO2 emissions, waste reduction, water conservation, and other sustainability practices.

The City will be assisted in its implementation of these agreements by a newly-formed grassroots organization, Monterey Green Action (MGA). MGA promotes green policies and practices, raises awareness and spurs community action to enable a socially responsive, healthy and prosperous Monterey.

Other Cool Cities in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties include Capitola, Pacific Grove, and Santa Cruz. Nationwide, over 700 cities have signed the agreements to date. In September The County of Santa Cruz, UCSC, and the City of Santa Cruz signed a local Climate Action Compact calling for them to set specific goals for greenhouse gas reduction.

To get involved:

Contact Monterey Green Action at .

Contact Sustainable Pacific Grove at www.sustainablepg.org.

Contact Sustainable Monterey County at www.sustainablemontereycounty.org/.

For more information about MGA, please contact Megan Tolbert ( ) or Joan Ivey ( ).

For information about forming a sustainability group in your Monterey County city, contact Denyse Frischmuth ( ).