Urban Sustainability Bulletin

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July 2018 Urban Sustainability Bulletin

 GHG Reduction

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Bloomberg Philanthropies Announces the American Cities Climate Challenge: Bloomberg Philanthropies, USDN's partner, invites the 100 most populous U.S. cities to apply for the American Cities Climate Challenge, a two-year program designed to significantly deepen their efforts to tackle climate change by providing technical support and resources. 
 
Institute for Market Transformation (IMT)/USDN Publish Reports on Energy Benchmarking: USDN members and IMT, USDN's partner, generated reports about energy benchmarking scorecards, management of data quality, and analysis of benchmarking data that encompasses the work collected by the group over the past year. 
 
Boston Announces Partnership for Large-Scale Renewables: Boston recently announced that they are partnering with other communities to compile their municipal electric demand for large-scale renewables and are looking for interested communities to join USDN members Chicago, Evanston, Houston, Los Angeles, Orlando, and Portland OR, who have already signed on. 
 
Pittsburgh Expands GHG Emissions Reduction Goals: Pittsburgh approved their Climate Action Plan 3.0, which includes expanding their city-wide GHG reduction goals to 30% by 2032 and 80% by 2050 with an emphasis on leveraging community insights and connections to achieve their goals.
 
Southeast Cities Ranked on Climate Commitments: West Palm Beach, Atlanta, Sarasota, Arlington County, Alexandria, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and Roanoke were among the top ten Southeast Climate Commitment Index cities, a ranking based on a survey of 131 Southeast cities' commitments to renewable energy and greenhouse gas emissions goals.
 
Cleveland Provides 100% Renewable Electricity Buying Power: Cleveland entered an agreement through their Municipal Electricity Aggregation Program to provide over 50,000 residents and 5,000 small businesses with 100% renewable energy.
 
San Leandro Moves to 100% Carbon Free Power: San Leandro approved switching their municipal electricity accounts to a 100% carbon-free product, offered by their community choice energy provider.

Climate Resilience

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Boston Passes Smart Utilities Policy for Large Developments: Boston authorized a Smart Utilities Policy requiring large developments to incorporate resilient technologies like green infrastructure, adaptive signal technology, and district energy microgrids into their plans.
 
Montreal Strategizes to Improve Resiliency: Montreal released the Resilient City Strategy, the first such plan in Canada, a five-year plan to improve their ability to anticipate, prevent, and adapt to challenges, like extreme weather events, terrorist attacks, and other unforeseen events.

Social Equity

 
Sacramento Awarded $12 Million to Expand Microtransit: Sacramento received a $12 million grant for the transit authority to expand on-demand shuttle service throughout the city and to promote the service in areas that are underserved by public transit. 
 
New York City Will Provide Reduced Fares to Low-Income Riders: New York City approved $160 million to fund the Fair Fares program that will offer reduced fares to low-income subway and bus riders starting next year.
 
Portland OR Focuses on Equity, Resiliency, and Sustainability in Central City Districts: Portland OR approved the Central City 2035 Plan, a growth and development plan, that focuses on affordable housing, climate resilience, and job creation in the downtown and central areas of the city. 

Urban Sustainability

Partners for Places Now Accepting Request for Proposals: The next RFP for Partners for Places grant program, which provides matching grants to build partnerships between local government sustainability offices and local, place-based foundations, is now available and closes on July 31.
 
New York City Highlights Progress Towards Sustainability Goals: New York City released its OneNYC 2018 Progress Report that outlines progress since 2015 towards their economic, equity, sustainability, and resiliency goals, including a sixfold increase of solar energy to over 148 megawatts since 2014.
 
Detroit Announces Community Engagement Plan: Detroit announced their Sustainability Action Agenda, which is a community engagement plan to help inform their city-wide sustainability efforts that will include feedback from 7,000 residents through surveys, town halls, and district ambassadors. 
 
Communities Large and Small Commit to Electric Buses: Aspen approved of $1.8 million to match grant funds towards purchasing eight electric buses for their Battery Electric Bus Zero Emission program, and Chicago authorized $32 million to purchase 20 electric buses and charging stations supporting their plan to invest in green technology. 
 
USDN Member Kumar Jensen (Evanston) Listed in GreenBiz 30 Under 30: USDN member, Kumar Jensen (Evanston), was included in the 2018 GreenBiz 30 Under 30, which recognizes young leaders who are demonstrating the world-changing promise of sustainability in their everyday work. 
 
Sustainable Nation Podcast with USDN Director, Nils Moe: Nils Moe, USDN's Managing Director, was recently interviewed on the Sustainable Nation podcast and discussed how local governments are leading on climate and sustainability and the power of networks and collaboration.