to: Mayor and Town Council
from: Jim Ward, Mayor Pro Tem and Sustainability, Energy and Environment (SEE) Committee Chair
Council Member Bill Strom
Council Member Laurin Easthom
Council Member Ed Harrison
subject: Resolution Authorizing the Mayor to Sign the Local Government Green Jobs Pledge
date: October 15, 2008
The purpose of this report is to provide information about the Local Government Green Jobs Pledge. The Sustainability, Energy and Environment (SEE) Committee has recommended that the Council adopt the attached resolution which would authorize the Mayor to sign the pledge and direct the Manager to identify actions and resources necessary to carryout the suggested steps of the pledge in concert with the Town’s overarching Economic Development Strategy.
On May 14, 2008, Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez and King County Executive Ron Sims became the first elected officials to sign the Local Government Green Jobs Pledge (Attachment 1). This pledge, which is co-sponsored by Green for All, the Apollo Alliance, the Center for American Progress, and the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) – Local Governments for Sustainability, aims to “build a green economy from the bottom up.”
The pledge defines Green-collar jobs as those that:
Green jobs generally consist of opportunities to work for environmentally-friendly and socially responsible companies that attempt to improve the environment, or companies that aim to reduce people’s impact on the environment through technology, product development or other means.
At its Annual Meeting in Miami on June 24, 2008, the US Conference of Mayors passed a resolution supporting the Green Jobs Pledge and highlighting the importance of joining together as local governments to take advantage of the economic, environmental and social opportunities that will emerge from the development of an inclusive green economy.
Local governments that sign the pledge commit to joining a nationwide movement that will proactively create and shape a green economy. While these efforts will begin at the community level, they are also intended to spur on similar efforts at the state and federal level. The basic tenets of this commitment include:
In an effort to address the core mission of the pledge, this commitment includes a suggested five-step process for creating and sustaining green-collar jobs through local government initiatives. The recommended steps and a short description are as follows:
In addition to Albuquerque and King County, the mayors from cities such as Denver, Austin, Minneapolis, Miami, Philadelphia and Seattle have all signed the pledge. Other smaller communities such as Maywood, IL, Winstonville, MS, North Little Rock, AR have also committed to this initiative. Chapel Hill would be the first local government in the state of North Carolina to show its support and commitment.
On June 25, 2008, the Council adopted the Town’s Economic Development Strategy (Attachment 2). This document is intended to serve as a guide for the development of a work plan to assist the Town in its economic development efforts. Such a work plan is still under development for the Council’s consideration later this fall. The adopted strategy includes a goal statement to “welcome green and ecologically sound businesses and developments” and a corresponding objective to “work with our community partners to develop incentives for green development, jobs and business opportunities.”
At its July 18, 2008 meeting, the Sustainability, Energy and Environment (SEE) Council Committee reviewed and evaluated—at the Mayor’s request—the Local Government Green Jobs Pledge. The Committee was supportive of the item and recommended that the staff work with the Economic Development Office to evaluate the pledge in the context of the recently adopted Economic Development Strategy and the considerations for the complementary work plan.
At the September 19, 2008 SEE Committee meeting, the Town’s Economic Development Officer met with the Committee to report his assessment of the pledge as it relates to the Town’s economic development efforts. The Committee received a handout (Attachment 3) which described tasks from the draft work plan that are associated with the goal and objective noted above. These tasks include efforts by the Town to work with both the business community and the academic institutions (e.g., UNC-Chapel Hill and the Orange Campuses of Durham Technical Community College) to develop local opportunities and partnerships that will foster green job creation and training.
In light of the information provided by staff, the SEE Committee concluded that the Town’s current economic development efforts are largely congruent with the general intent and recommended steps outlined in the Green Jobs Pledge. Consequently, the SEE Committee recommended that the Town become the first local government in the state to sign on to the pledge by proposing that the Council pass the attached resolution at the October 15 Council Business Meeting.
Chapel Hill is committed to fostering a sustainable community by addressing the environmental, economic and social needs of today’s citizens with equal importance, and in a manner that does not prevent future generations from meeting these same needs. Furthermore, the Town embraces the nexus between its commitments to climate protection and the long-term success of the local economy. Like other forward-thinking communities across the state and throughout the nation, Chapel Hill is well positioned to seize the economic, social and environmental opportunities that can emerge from the creation of a local green economy that delivers both high quality jobs and a prosperous green-collar workforce.
The SEE Committee has reviewed the attached Green Jobs Pledge and believes that it will complement the Town’s current economic development efforts. Beyond the initial commitment (Step 1), each of the recommended steps within the pledge are generally aligned with existing and on-going efforts related to the Town’s adopted Economic Development Strategy and the corresponding work plan.
For all of the reasons stated above, we recommend that the Town commit to the Green Jobs Pledge in an effort to reinforce our goal of welcoming green and ecologically sound businesses and developments in our community.
That the Council adopt the attached resolution authorizing the Mayor to sign the Local Government Green Jobs Pledge and to direct the Manager to identify actions and resources necessary to carryout the recommended steps of the pledge in concert with the Town’s overarching Economic Development Strategy.