Mayors Are Proving You Can Grow the Economy and Cut Fossil Fuel Use
I’ve spent a surprising number of episodes talking with mayors about trees. This week I got to ask the person who connects many of them.
Kate Wright is executive director of Climate Mayors, a network that started about 12 years ago with a few mayors swapping ideas. Today it has some 350 mayors from 48 states.
She came with numbers. A new study of member cities found GDP up more than 11% since 2020, while fossil fuel use per person fell 3.5%. Member cities are 21% of the U.S. population, but 30% of GDP, with 16% less fossil fuel use. As Kate put it, you can do both environmental leadership and economic development at the same time.
The examples were practical: light rail and cooling programs in Phoenix, heat pump upgrades in Boston, and Atlanta keeping data centers out of its protected green space. On data centers, most mayors, she says, are closer to “yes, if” than “no.”
I asked Kate what good government is. Her answer: being responsive to community needs, staying curious, and delivering on promises. If you don’t like what you’re getting, show up at City Hall.
She also runs five miles of trails every morning. After that, a city council meeting must be easy.
The Good Government Institute is a nonprofit organization promoting civic engagement and civic education. Its flagship program, The Good Government Show, features mayors, public servants, and national leaders, and each episode extends the Institute’s core mission of demonstrating that government works.