Mayors take the lead in Climate Action

00:00:00:01 – 00:00:02:51
David Martin
This is the good government show.

00:00:02:56 – 00:00:16:43
Kate Wright
We love to see our mayors do do what they do best, which is being friendly competition with each other, which is learn from each other, but always set the bar higher and higher to see what they can achieve.

00:00:16:48 – 00:00:41:41
Kate Wright
You can do both environmental and climate leadership and economic development at the same time, and we’re so excited to have been able to release this study, which demonstrates just that. We really need to be able to trust that the federal government will, when they make promises, funding or otherwise, that they will deliver on those promises.

00:00:41:46 – 00:01:02:07
Kate Wright
Our goal is to take in all the information and figure out what’s achievable, and to act where we can. What gives me hope is that we have more than 350 mayors on a wide variety of cities that could speak to you for an hour about the amazing things they’re doing in their communities.

00:01:02:11 – 00:01:20:34
David Martin
The federal government is backing away from protecting the environment, and it seems to be more focused on supporting industry. But the good news is, America’s mayors and local government is picking up the challenge and taking the lead on climate action. On today’s show, the executive director of Climate Mayors talks about how the mayors are leading. Welcome to the Good Government show.

00:01:20:37 – 00:01:45:23
David Martin
I’m Dave Martin. First, help us share the message of good government by liking us and sharing us on all your favorite social media. Make sure to leave a comment and join our good Government show community. Check out our website for the link. Kate Wright is the executive director of Climate Mayors. From her, you’re going to hear that America’s mayors are working to think green, stay ahead of climate change, and are thinking about a future with fresh air, clean water, effective transportation and smart housing.

00:01:45:28 – 00:02:08:27
David Martin
What started with just a few mayors sharing ideas has grown into a national organization. Some 350 mayors from 48 states are all part of the Climate Mayors organization. If you’re listening to The Good Government Show for the first time, welcome. I’ve talked to many of the climate mayor members, so go back and listen to conversations with mayors like Laura McLean of Boise, Barbara Buffalo of Columbus, Jane Castro of Tampa, and Regina Romero of Tucson.

00:02:08:31 – 00:02:25:35
David Martin
In all of those shows, we talk about some of the programs and projects in their city that are making for a cleaner and more environmentally friendly city. Also, and I can’t help myself anymore. We talk about trees. Yes, trees a small idea. Plant more trees, but they have a big impact. And trees just make a city look better.

00:02:25:35 – 00:02:45:20
David Martin
And cleaner air and lower temperatures. And you’re going to hear that again. And we talked about the issue on everyone’s mind these days. Data centers. The approach from the climate mayors is let’s make sure we do it correctly. But as you’ll hear, it’s not that simple. Coming up. Kate Wright, executive director of Climate Mayors.

00:02:45:24 – 00:03:09:06
David Martin
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00:03:09:11 – 00:03:20:25
David Martin
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00:03:20:29 – 00:03:38:48
David Martin
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00:03:38:52 – 00:03:47:59
David Martin
Welcome to the Good Government show. I’m happy to have back with me. Kate. Right. The executive director of climate mayors. We had a little technical glitch. So thank you for sticking with me. And thanks for coming back. Good to have you.

00:03:47:59 – 00:03:49:04
Kate Wright
Been happy to be here.

00:03:49:06 – 00:04:03:34
David Martin
So I want to just jump into this because there is so much to talk about. First, I want everyone to know about climate mayors that your organization is about 12 years old. What was the idea behind getting it started and what is the thrust of your work now?

00:04:03:48 – 00:04:34:59
Kate Wright
Mayors really wanted a dedicated space where they could dive into the topic of climate change and learn from each other in a peer networking fashion. So they had a number of groups that they belonged to, but really felt like they needed a dedicated stream to tackle this important issue. So we had a number of our founding mayors came together from Los Angeles, Houston and Philadelphia and created this dedicated space through climate mayors.

00:04:35:03 – 00:05:11:52
Kate Wright
From there, we’ve continued to grow from that fairly small peer acceleration model to when we saw the Trump administration in his first administration pull out of the Paris climate agreement. There was recognition across the United States from subnational leaders, including mayors, that this was really a time for local leadership to step forward. So we grew from an organization of about 30 mayors to closer to where we’re at now, which is over 350 mayors in a wide range of cities all across the United States.

00:05:11:54 – 00:05:18:58
David Martin
Yes, 350, according to your your website, 350 mayors in 48 states. I have to ask what states are on board.

00:05:19:03 – 00:05:55:39
Kate Wright
The Dakotas have been challenging. And one thing that’s important to recognize, because we are very focused on the mayors and selves as wanting to opt in. Every time that there is an election or a mayor terms out, we need to go back to the new mayor to ensure that they want to stay in that leadership role. So some of this is is turnover and some is just, you know, it’s it’s challenging to to do that that outreach and put in the time to develop those relationships across such diverse states and diverse cities across the nation.

00:05:55:42 – 00:06:15:24
David Martin
And I just have to mention this. Your president is Laura McLean. She’s the mayor of Boise. Justin Bibb, the mayor of Cleveland, and Barbara Buffalo, the mayor of Columbus, Missouri, are three people, among others I’ve had on the show. Jane Castor from Tampa as well, you know, quite a great group of really dynamic mayors. No, one, of course, more dynamic than Barbara Buffalo.

00:06:15:31 – 00:06:21:14
David Martin
Just a great group you’ve got here. Is it hard to keep this group together, or are they all enthusiastic and wanting to stay.

00:06:21:19 – 00:07:09:37
Kate Wright
A very enthusiastic and dynamic as as you noted. And they really enjoy being able to have that opportunity to be together. It’s such a unique role that they find themselves in being responsible to the public on so many different issues, being in such a public facing role, tackling so many extremely complex and difficult issues. So having that space where they can come together and really explore issues of shared interest, in being able to brag about the really compelling things that they’re doing in their cities, they’re always so interested in getting in the weeds on topics from how do you expedite permitting for housing, which we talked about recently with Mary Gloria in our unscripted series

00:07:09:47 – 00:07:41:16
Kate Wright
out of San Diego to, you know, how do you how are you being more responsive to community members on everything from potholes to energy affordability to extreme heat? So being able to get together and explore those issues with each other on a peer to peer basis is something that’s very compelling. So when we are able to provide the spaces like we’ve been able to do in New York Climate Week, we had 43 mayors come together, over 150 partners to learn from each other.

00:07:41:19 – 00:07:48:59
Kate Wright
It creates an opportunity where they can really shine in their leadership and also learn from others to accelerate their leadership.

00:07:49:01 – 00:08:07:03
David Martin
Try to help me look smarter than I am. I got into the weeds a little bit last year talking to mayors about trees. I sat in on on Barbara Buffalo’s session and there was a conference of mayors, and there was a long discussion about trees and about planting trees. Do trees really, truly make a difference?

00:08:07:08 – 00:08:34:18
Kate Wright
Breeze are a phenomenal example of the integrated and holistic solutions that mayors are focused on. So trees do make a difference in terms of cooling the urban environment and addressing the urban heat island effect. They make a difference in terms of air quality. There’s some carbon capture benefits as well, but finding those solutions that can be the community provide air quality benefits.

00:08:34:30 – 00:08:56:48
Kate Wright
They work across so many different issues mayors are facing. They improve home value. They reduce energy costs. If you’re talking about in a neighborhood or commercial context. So for that reason, I think it’s a solution that mayors look to because it addresses so many community challenges and provides so many benefits that are just immediately tangible for communities.

00:08:56:52 – 00:09:00:09
David Martin
So I was right to spend like six episodes just on trees. I’m okay.

00:09:00:09 – 00:09:15:42
Kate Wright
There, I think so. And and personally, I’m on the Sacramento Tree Foundation board, and I’ve been able to be intimately involved in some of these conversations, both at the local level and in the national level. Through the mayors, I have the opportunity to.

00:09:15:51 – 00:09:16:23
David Martin
See if I want.

00:09:16:23 – 00:09:17:54
Kate Wright
Support for. It’s a great solution.

00:09:18:07 – 00:09:27:31
David Martin
For spending six episodes on trees. I’ve talked to the right person I know, I think Laura McLean, the mayor of Boise, I think I think her goal was to plant one tree for every citizen in the city, which.

00:09:27:34 – 00:09:44:33
Kate Wright
Is mayor. McLean has been a phenomenal leader in this space, and this is an area where we love to see our mayors do do what they do best, which is being friendly co-op petition with each other, which is learn from each other, but always set the bar higher and higher to see what they can achieve.

00:09:44:35 – 00:10:05:17
David Martin
I think one of the mayors said that they would often stop by knocking on the door and say, can I plant a tree in your in your front yard? And they went, okay, the mayor is doing it. Sure. Why not? I know that one of the things I wanted to talk to you about today is you’ve got a recent study that you’ve, you’ve you’ve come out, you’ve come together with that basically says that climate mayors are using less fossil fuel.

00:10:05:17 – 00:10:09:24
David Martin
Can you tell me what this study was about, what it said and what you what you found out about it?

00:10:09:27 – 00:10:43:51
Kate Wright
Yes. We think it’s really important to demonstrate the efficacy of the collective impact, your learning model we have, and be able to hold ourselves responsible to what we’ve been saying, which is that you can do both environmental and climate leadership and economic development at the same time. And we’re so excited to have been able to release this study, which demonstrates just that, that climate mayors have been able to decouple economic growth and fuel consumption.

00:10:43:51 – 00:11:19:18
Kate Wright
So we’ve seen our mayors really effectively come out of the pandemic. And the immediate impacts that we saw in 2020, and to increase GDP by over 11%, while also still maintaining an increasing population a little bit and decreasing fossil fuel use per person by 3.5%. So 11.3% increase in GDP from 2020, with a reduction of 3.5% in terms of fossil fuel use.

00:11:19:18 – 00:11:47:30
Kate Wright
So we did the calculation. That’s an average of 5.4 billion less in fossil fuel spending. How much again, 5.4 billion less in fossil fuel spending since 2020 compared to the ninth. If we would have stayed at 19, 2019 at that trajectory, it’s a lot. It’s huge. And so we’ve been able to show that we are punching above our way at climate mayors, our members.

00:11:47:37 – 00:12:05:00
Kate Wright
While we are only 21% of the US population, we’re 30% of the U.S. GDP and we have 16% less fossil fuel use. So you can decouple economic development from fossil fuel use. And we’ve been able to prove it through this study.

00:12:05:03 – 00:12:12:46
David Martin
Can you talk about some cities that are just doing remarkable things, and can you give me some examples of of where cities are really leading the charge on this?

00:12:12:48 – 00:12:42:34
Kate Wright
Absolutely. We’ve seen mayors across our network in a variety of different city types, different sizes and different political landscapes lead in a number of different areas. I think two areas we’ve seen the most is transportation and buildings. That’s really where these fossil fuel reductions are coming from. So we have mayors like Mayor Gallego out of Phoenix, Arizona, who show leadership on so many issues, but related to this, in particular in transportation.

00:12:42:34 – 00:13:09:33
Kate Wright
So they’ve been able to put almost 12 new miles of light rail in. They done a lot of work replacing their busses with cleaner busses and then also a lot of investment in active transportation programs. The city of Redmond, Washington Mayor Bernie has also done tremendous initiatives related to safe biking and walking and light rail. So we’re seeing that kind of work across our network.

00:13:09:47 – 00:13:49:09
Kate Wright
And then the other big leadership area is, as I mentioned in the building, energy efficiency measures are very concerned about energy affordability and rising utility rates. And so they’ve been tackling this head on through either building efficiency upgrades like Mayor Buffalo has led. And she may have talked about when she was on the the program with you. We had Bear Wu in New York with us speaking about their energy, their Boston Saver program, which has been able to put in 1500 heat pumps and help community members save over $48 million in utility costs.

00:13:49:09 – 00:14:14:43
Kate Wright
So we’re seeing stories like this all across our network in Atlanta. They’ve got Weather Rise, which is an energy efficiency program as well, to help residents be comfortable in their homes year round and also lower their energy costs. So these types of programs have both addressed the affordable issue and also have been beneficial for climate goals as well.

00:14:14:48 – 00:14:28:42
David Martin
If I’m not mistaken. Didn’t Redmond, the mayor of Redmond, put in a light rail system that led to new housing, sort of denser housing, like they created like a city center? So there’s less cars on the road? Basically.

00:14:28:45 – 00:15:15:47
Kate Wright
Yeah. And our mayors are, as I mentioned earlier, they think really holistically and in an integrated fashion. So they’re very thoughtful about how does transportation in our public transit connect to housing and to draw. I mentioned we had Mayor Gloria from San Diego on our unscripted series, which you can find on YouTube. He talked a lot about both the reduction and permitting time for housing, but also transit oriented development and how you can connect and lower transportation costs and and emissions by making sure that housing is connected to transit and put in walkable areas so that people can make choices about how they get around, and they’re not stuck driving in a car if they

00:15:15:47 – 00:15:16:25
Kate Wright
don’t want to.

00:15:16:27 – 00:15:36:36
David Martin
I have to ask this because I live in New York City and I ride a bike a lot, and recently I read it was on the front page of the New York Times that the current administration decided that riding bikes was for lefties, and who wants to ride a bike? And that’s silly. And they were defunding bike lanes and, you know, bike initiatives and bike ride projects when you see things like that.

00:15:36:38 – 00:15:37:43
David Martin
What is your reaction?

00:15:37:45 – 00:16:10:55
Kate Wright
It’s really unfortunate that this government, the federal administration, is taking away choices for community members. I think where the government has promised funding to cities and states, it’s of the utmost importance that when we have congressional leadership that passes a bill that passes certain funding opportunities and then promises them to cities and states, we need to be able to trust that our government will deliver on those promises in cities and states are stepping up to the federal government when that’s not happening.

00:16:11:10 – 00:16:36:15
Kate Wright
So if this kind of mentality continues related to the, quote, die bike lanes, we’re certainly going to be, you know, raising our concerns and using every leverage point we have. Again, this is about choice. We’re not requiring people to get on a bicycle. I personally love biking. I love taking transit. I love driving my, you know, hybrid electric vehicle as well.

00:16:36:27 – 00:16:57:04
Kate Wright
But this is really about choices and where people want to and can make choices that are better for their public health, better for air quality. We we need to be able to create that opportunity to do that. And we really need to be able to trust that the federal government will, when they make promises, funding or otherwise, that they will deliver on those promises.

00:16:57:12 – 00:17:12:32
David Martin
I recently had Leo, the mayor of Durham, North Carolina, on and he said we were talking about bike lanes. Do you ride a bike? He said, every day he goes, I don’t want to park my car. I get on my bike. I said, it is suit. He goes, yep, in my suit. I ride by and waved everybody. So yes, he’s with you.

00:17:12:35 – 00:17:26:03
Kate Wright
That was the same for me. It was always, you know, it’s nice to start your day that way and to get exercise. But for me it was not dealing with parking. It was more convenient for me in the right context. Right? Sometimes it’s not. And you need to make other choices.

00:17:26:10 – 00:17:54:30
David Martin
Sure. It’s raining. You recently in September put out a press release where you responded to the EPA. It says your head. The headline says, as the EPA dismantles foundational legal authority to regulate the power sector. You had something to say, and I want to read this because it was pretty impressive. It says. While mayors continue to advance local initiatives to protect residents, this EPA is moving backwards by siding with corporate interests over families.

00:17:54:37 – 00:18:02:20
David Martin
They are undermining decades of collective progress. Is that correct? Is that what you said, and what were you trying to say to the EPA here?

00:18:02:22 – 00:18:43:41
Kate Wright
That is absolutely what I said and what I believe. The EPA has a responsibility to work with local leaders and to protect Americans health and safeguard families, and for the EPA to really strip its own authority to regulate these air pollutants under the guise of attacking, quote, Green New Deal and Green New scam. I mean, it’s it’s really just hard to fathom that a federal agency that is its whole purpose is to protect the health of Americans, would would strip its own authority in this way is.

00:18:43:41 – 00:18:46:17
David Martin
Right there, this protection agency.

00:18:46:20 – 00:18:56:05
Kate Wright
It’s working against everything that we expect from this federal agency. And it’s coming at cross purposes from what city and state leaders are trying to do.

00:18:56:07 – 00:19:10:54
David Martin
So that places of heavier burden on the cities, you know, don’t have the funding and don’t have the resources of the federal government. How are they? How are they dealing with that across the nation, and how are they making up the shortfall? In many ways, the economic shortfall.

00:19:10:56 – 00:19:48:59
Kate Wright
As we’ve shown through the study we released, our mayors have continued their leadership across every administration. So whether that is getting creative with funding, whether that is local ballot measures that can help them, you know, be in charge of their own destiny. In this way, we we have seen leadership increase under the first Trump administration. We saw that climate mayors in particularly had almost 50% of the climate policies, even though representing only about 20% of the population.

00:19:48:59 – 00:20:14:48
Kate Wright
So we know that in times like this, climate mayors step up and they not only continue their momentum, which has been a consistent acceleration of climate leadership, but they really double down in these times. And that has been true of this Trump administration as well. It does make it more difficult when the federal government is walking away from their core responsibilities.

00:20:14:48 – 00:20:38:44
Kate Wright
And for something like power plants, cities may or may not have jurisdictional control. If it’s not within city boundaries, it can still have a lot of impact on cities and on their air quality and the goals that they have around emissions and climate reduction. So, you know, that creates a very, very challenging environment. And we we take threats like this very seriously.

00:20:38:49 – 00:20:50:34
Kate Wright
And cities will continue to double down on their leadership, and they take their responsibility to safeguard their communities very seriously and will continue to lead in these areas.

00:20:50:38 – 00:21:10:01
David Martin
One of the biggest issues we’re dealing with today, I know this from, you know, talking to mayors at the conferences is data centers, and I know this is an issue that the climate mayors are looking at. I think you say I saw on your website, it’s a cities must set the terms for AI in the infrastructure boom, not the other way around.

00:21:10:16 – 00:21:30:12
David Martin
This is a topic on everyone’s mind across the nation especially, you know, here in this election year, what are mayors doing about this and what should people be aware of? You know, we all want to watch Netflix and we want to make sure that we can watch the movie without it stopping. But, you know, the the data centers that people are talking about have some real environmental impacts.

00:21:30:17 – 00:21:34:12
David Martin
So there’s how how do you manage the balance and what are the mayors doing about it?

00:21:34:14 – 00:22:04:12
Kate Wright
Our mayors of taking this issue very seriously. It is a major impact in the remaking of our economy and how much our economy is transforming, and the interrelated issues on the energy grid and the conversations around how do we power this next economy are critical. And for mayors, we have to be thinking about how the best and highest use of resources.

00:22:04:15 – 00:22:27:33
Kate Wright
And so as they think about their economic development goals and the how they want to participate in the new economy, we want that consideration of data centers to be part of it. But they should really be creating a vision for economic development and where they want to prioritize powering that new economy and how they want to power it.

00:22:27:33 – 00:22:59:21
Kate Wright
So a lot of the conversation right now, we have seen growing opposition for data centers, and we’ve seen that picking up speed pretty quickly. I think what’s important to note is that what we’re seeing is there is more support for one data centers powered by renewable energy. So that’s important to know and to there is a growing appetite for slowing things down through, you know, potentially moratoriums that can create a little pause for community engagement.

00:22:59:31 – 00:23:24:20
Kate Wright
What we’re not seeing is a lot of as much support for all out bands. There is a feeling, as we’ve seen from polls, that these data centers are going to be built. So making sure that there’s guardrails to ensure that they are built thoughtfully with with responsibility and with stewardship for the community. So for mayors, what that looks like is issues around land use and siting.

00:23:24:20 – 00:23:51:52
Kate Wright
So we’ve seen mayors like Mayor Dickens and Atlanta who have said, we don’t want this in the green belt that we’ve worked so hard to preserve for community recreation and for natural resources. We don’t want this to be in areas that we’ve decided we really want to invest in housing. So we’ve seen mayors ensure that there are some guardrails about where those data centers are built, brownfields, industrial areas, where can we do it.

00:23:51:52 – 00:24:17:45
Kate Wright
So it’s not as disruptive to community members. We’ve definitely seen a lot of conversation on ensuring that those costs aren’t then shouldered by community members on their utility bill. So a lot of conversation about the affordability piece and then making sure that, you know, we’re addressing air pollution, that we’re addressing water use, which, depending on the technology utilized, can vary quite a bit.

00:24:17:45 – 00:24:51:05
Kate Wright
And then energy use, of course, you know, how do we make sure that we are driving investments in energy efficiency, utilizing some of the the new technology and partnerships that are coming out with Sunrun and Google and others to be able to think through, how do we utilize this technology to better utilize our grid to create more efficiency within our use right now, so that these data centers aren’t as disruptive, and then powering on renewable energy where we can.

00:24:51:07 – 00:25:17:54
Kate Wright
So we’ve got mayors all across the spectrum. Some are very interested in the economic development potential and are figuring out ways to drive investment in other community priorities like housing, like renewable energy or energy efficiency. And we have on the other end of the spectrum that are saying absolutely not in any way, shape or form, but most of the mayors are closer to a yes if or a no except.

00:25:17:54 – 00:25:19:37
Kate Wright
So we’re really trying to figure out.

00:25:19:42 – 00:25:20:15
David Martin
Let’s see how we.

00:25:20:15 – 00:25:21:29
Kate Wright
Can get a better. Yes.

00:25:21:29 – 00:25:22:20
David Martin
Yeah yeah yeah yeah.

00:25:22:22 – 00:25:34:45
David Martin
Luckily all those solutions are simple so that’s great. So speaking of simple, we’re going to come back in just a minute. I’m going to ask you some really easy questions. You’ve heard these before.

00:25:34:50 – 00:26:00:08
Narrator
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00:26:00:13 – 00:26:04:48
Narrator
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00:26:04:53 – 00:26:22:43
David Martin
Want to hear more about good government? Check out another show I host leading Iowa. Good government in Iowa cities. I host the show with Brad Cavanaugh, mayor of Dubuque, Iowa and the immediate past president of the Iowa League of Cities. Together, we talked to leaders in Iowa cities. We talk about what works and what good government looks like in Iowa.

00:26:22:52 – 00:26:29:40
David Martin
Join us right here. We’re listening. Now that’s leading Iowa, good government in Iowa cities.

00:26:29:45 – 00:26:43:22
David Martin
So we have a questionnaire that usually I ask mayors. But since you’re here in the hot seat I’m going to I’m going to tell this a little bit for you. But we can start off with the same question for everyone. And obviously we’re going to, you know, think about this from an environmental climate perspective. But what is good government?

00:26:43:24 – 00:27:19:54
Kate Wright
Good government is being responsible to community needs. It’s looking ahead to be in a constant curiosity and learning position. And then it’s delivering on promises. So whether that is, you know, ensuring that the community has access to affordable housing, to obviously resource protection, to clean air, it’s safeguarding the public health, it’s public safety, it’s delivering on promises and being responsive to community member needs.

00:27:19:56 – 00:27:22:37
David Martin
If people don’t like what they’re getting from their government, what should they do?

00:27:22:41 – 00:27:32:48
Kate Wright
They should speak up. They should show up at City Hall. They should make their voices heard, and they should be a part of co-creating positive solutions.

00:27:32:53 – 00:27:41:16
David Martin
You talk to mayors and you work with mayors across the nation. What would you like people to know about government and about the mayors of America that they probably don’t know?

00:27:41:21 – 00:28:10:55
Kate Wright
Mayors are very pragmatic. They’re very resilient. They are tackling so many issues. So I think often people come at their inner facing with elected officials through their pain point. So whether that’s my utility bill, whether that’s insurance, whatever the pain point may be, I think people often interface with government on that pain point or that that area of highest interest.

00:28:10:55 – 00:28:36:25
Kate Wright
But knowing that these measures are dealing with everything from homelessness to climate crisis to, you know, natural disasters to issues like data centers, they they are being asked to show up and lead in so many different areas. And our mayors are rolling up their sleeves and they’re doing everything they can. They’re bringing in experts. They’re working with staff to ensure that they’re prepared to do that.

00:28:36:27 – 00:28:58:26
Kate Wright
But I would say, you know, mayors come at this from a public service mindset, and they’re wanting to deliver and do the right thing, and they’re being stretched across a lot of different complex issues. So I would encourage people to to be active co-creators and in solutions. Yeah. Be nice to our mayors. They’re doing our best to represent communities and to fight for you.

00:28:58:28 – 00:29:05:47
David Martin
So is your background more in the government section or more in the environmental section that that sort of brought you together to work with mayors on climate?

00:29:05:50 – 00:29:35:50
Kate Wright
It’s always been at that cross section, so similar to our mayors. I have a very kind of pragmatic approach to this work. I spent my career at an NGO serving elected officials of various types at the local level. So mayors now, but before that, county supervisors, city council members. A range of elected officials have been doing this for 20 years at the cross section of smart growth, environment, climate and government.

00:29:35:50 – 00:29:56:25
Kate Wright
So that channel is really about pragmatic solutions that we can actually deliver on. So it’s it’s less less academic, although certainly we we pull from our academic partners and learn where we can, but our goal is to take in all the information and figure out what’s achievable, and to act where we can.

00:29:56:30 – 00:30:06:11
David Martin
Give us a reason to be optimistic. Tell me something that that you’ve come across, as in your role as executive director of the Climate Mayors that makes you say, you know what, we’re going to be okay.

00:30:06:16 – 00:30:34:01
Kate Wright
So you mentioned that you’ve interviewed I mean, my optimism comes from the fact that our mayors have doubled down in their leadership in the hardest time. So like I said before, our study shows that under Trump 1.0 and under this administration as well, when the federal government has stepped back on their responsibility to safeguard communities, step back on delivering on the grants they’ve promised, step back on their climate leadership.

00:30:34:08 – 00:30:49:48
Kate Wright
Mayors are doubling down again even in this most challenging of times. So what gives me hope is that we have more than 350 mayors and a wide variety of cities that could speak to you for an hour about the amazing things they’re doing in their communities.

00:30:49:51 – 00:31:01:59
David Martin
So what do you do for fun? You’re you’re director of the climate mayors. Your your your pro-environment. Do you get out or do you hike? Do you do all kinds of other things? Like what do you do.

00:31:01:59 – 00:31:23:27
Kate Wright
For fun? I do so I, I get out in the, in nature as much as possible. I’ve been trail running every morning. So I’ve been out this just this week. I’ve seen multiple deer. I’ve got the chance to run along a beautiful babbling creek and in the forest, and have really just been able to enjoy the trail running.

00:31:23:29 – 00:31:23:53
Kate Wright
Yes.

00:31:23:58 – 00:31:24:46
David Martin
How far do you go?

00:31:24:58 – 00:31:32:46
Kate Wright
Anywhere from four miles to about eight miles. But my morning runs tend to be, you know, five on the lower end, five miles.

00:31:32:46 – 00:31:35:53
David Martin
Or so. That’s not lower end of five miles. Trail running. That’s that’s.

00:31:36:05 – 00:31:40:59
Kate Wright
It’s not low. But, you know, on the weekend I when I have a little more time, I try and spend a little more time.

00:31:40:59 – 00:31:56:51
David Martin
Out there. Good on you. This is the good government show. We always bring it back to good government. Tell me about some project that the climate mayors have been doing or working on over the last 12 years that that you’re excited about. And it doesn’t have to be a huge project, maybe just some small little impact thing that impacted one city.

00:31:56:56 – 00:31:59:54
David Martin
But, you know, tell me about something you’re you got excited about.

00:31:59:54 – 00:32:33:34
Kate Wright
I’m excited about the work that we’ve been doing on Extreme Heat. So we released a toolkit recently. We we supported a cohort of mayors to work on this issue. It’s an issue that’s of increasing relevance and importance to mayor. So we’re excited that we’ve been able to provide both better strategies for mayors to communicate effectively with community members when there are heat events, but also to help mayors accelerate exciting solutions.

00:32:33:35 – 00:33:06:21
Kate Wright
The mayor of Phoenix, Arizona, has obviously been very attuned to this issue and has done so much in terms of cool surfaces and urban greening to address extreme heat and find ways to cool down communities. We seen the same leadership out of Miami-Dade County and Tucson, Arizona. Those are a few of of our leaders in this space. So, you know, I think just exciting to be able to support mayors to tackle challenging issues head on.

00:33:06:21 – 00:33:29:39
Kate Wright
I think really proud of our data center work as well. We’ve got some great resources. If you search data centers and climate mayors, you’ll see our our data Center guidebook, which is really become the go to resource for mayors that we’re very proud of. We also have case studies and model ordinances that support mayors in being really responsible in this complex environment.

00:33:29:41 – 00:33:44:23
David Martin
Well, I certainly appreciate the work you’re doing. When I heard about your organization, I was like, oh my God, this is great. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to talk about climate mayors of some of the people I talked about, but I certainly will do that in the future. So keep up the good work and we appreciate you taking the time.

00:33:44:26 – 00:33:48:35
David Martin
Kate. Right. The executive director of the Climate Mayors. Keep going as you are, please.

00:33:48:37 – 00:33:54:08
Kate Wright
I will absolutely. And thank you for your leadership and for spotlighting our mayors. We appreciate it.

00:33:54:13 – 00:33:58:15
David Martin
Thanks.

00:33:58:20 – 00:34:19:43
David Martin
The Good Government Institute has a new partner, the Charles F Kettering Foundation. I really like their podcast, The Context, and I bet you will too. They have a new series called Democracy Under Construction. The show is hosted by historian Alex Lovett, and he looks back at the first 250 years of U.S. history. Alex digs into the moments that have pushed us towards an inclusive democracy.

00:34:19:48 – 00:34:26:52
David Martin
You can find it where you’re listening right now, or visit Kettering and give them a follow.

00:34:26:57 – 00:34:46:53
David Martin
What if Lincoln hadn’t been shot? What if World War One hadn’t happened? Jim Ludlow. Good Government Show executive producer, explores both those ideas in two books in Lincoln Beyond the Bullet he imagines that Lincoln lives in while cousins, he imagines what would have happened if three kings, all cousins, hadn’t blundered their way into war. What if. Think about it.

00:34:46:55 – 00:34:54:21
David Martin
Go to good govt institute.org/books and order a copy.

00:34:54:26 – 00:35:20:08
David Martin
Here’s the most important takeaway from my conversation with Climate Mayor Executive Director Kate Wright. Mayors are reducing their carbon footprint and creating healthier, cleaner cities and using a lot and I mean a lot less fossil fuels. Across the nation, the mayors are tackling big issues locally transportation, more light rails, bike trails, upgrading housing and creating new housing and dealing with data centers, all with an eye toward less carbon fuels and planning for the future.

00:35:20:15 – 00:35:37:21
David Martin
And that, friends and neighbors, is good government. We talk about the EPA and she said, quote, it’s working against everything we expect from the federal agency, unquote. The climate mayors have been very outspoken, and they will continue to be. It’s good to have them around. My optimism comes from the fact that the mayors have doubled down on their leadership in a difficult time.

00:35:37:33 – 00:35:51:44
David Martin
That’s a good reason to be optimistic that a good five mile trail run every morning. I guess after that run, the rest of the day is easy. Well, that’s our show. Thanks for listening. Please like us and share with your friends and review us right here where you’re listening, and check out our website. Good government show.com for extras.

00:35:51:49 – 00:36:04:24
David Martin
Help us keep telling stories of good government and action everywhere. Join us again for another episode right here. I’m Dave Martin and this is a good government show.

00:36:04:29 – 00:36:42:20
David Martin
The Good Government Show is produced by the Good Government Institute, a nonprofit organization promoting civic engagement and civic education. All donations to the show help promote trust in government. You can donate at good governance.org. That’s good. Gov institute.org. Executive producers are Jim Ludlow, Dave Martin that’s me and David Snyder. Jason Stershic is our editor and producer. Join us again to hear good stories about our government right here on The Good Government Show.

00:36:42:25 – 00:36:45:15
Narrator
This podcast is part of the democracy Group.

**This transcription was created using digital tools and has not been edited by a live person. We apologize for any discrepancies or errors.