The City of Texarkana, Texas began a campaign to “go green” a couple of years ago. Mayor Steve Mayo signed the United States Mayors Agreement on Climate Control with the City Council’s approval during the 2009-2010 budget cycle. Just last year the City of Texarkana, Texas joined up with the International Council Local Environmental Initiatives. Here is a quick look at both of these items:
U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement
Under the Agreement, participating cities commit to take following three actions:
- Strive to meet or beat the Kyoto Protocol targets in their own communities, through actions ranging from anti-sprawl land-use policies to urban forest restoration projects to public information campaigns;
- Urge their state governments, and the federal government, to enact policies and programs to meet or beat the greenhouse gas emission reduction target suggested for the United States in the Kyoto Protocol — 7% reduction from 1990 levels by 2012; and
- Urge the U.S. Congress to pass the bipartisan greenhouse gas reduction legislation, which would establish a national emission trading system
International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives
ICLEI is an international association of local governments as well as national and regional local government organizations who have made a commitment to sustainable development.
ICLEI provides technical consulting, training, and information services to build capacity, share knowledge, and support local government in the implementation of sustainable development at the local level. Our basic premise is that locally designed initiatives can provide an effective and cost-efficient way to achieve local, national, and global sustainability objectives.
Why would the city of Texarkana, Texas be a part of this idea of “going green”?
One of the reasons is that by signing the Mayor’s Agreement and joining ICLEI the city became eligible for grant money. According to the City Manager the City of Texarkana received $173,400 from the Energy Efficiency Grant (a federal grant). The City of Texarkana was also awarded $4,000 in incentives for upgrading the lighting efficiency at City Hall and Southwest Center. Plus, that wonderful green trash can and recycle can that you HAD to receive from the city were all part of this “green” initiative.
The City of Texarkana, Texas has made these commitments on behalf of the citizens of Texarkana, Texas without a vote or even much of a public notice. Is it the proper role of government to make sure citizens protect the environment? Citizens need to be informed and then act on that information. Only the citizens of Texarkana, Texas can limit their government. It looks as if they need to or else be faced with more intrusion in order to save the environment.