The Washington-based U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) is calling for the creation of a $4 billion Energy and Environmental Block Grant program to help cities fight global warming. The grant money would be used to improving communities’ energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions and decrease the nation’s dependence on foreign oil.

During USCM’s 75^th Winter Meeting last week, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, co-chair of the Mayor’s Council on Climate Protection, called for a “climate of change” in Washington. Seattle is one of 372 cities that have signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement in which mayors have pledged to bring their cities into compliance with the Kyoto Protocols. “In Seattle, we are showing that you can power a city without toasting a planet,” Nickels says. “Now we need our leaders in Washington to step up to the forefront of the effort to protect our climate.”

USCM also is requesting three specific actions during the current session of Congress: the establishment of a national cap on greenhouse gas emissions with a market-based system to allow emitting companies to trade allowances; the passage of climate-friendly energy and transportation policies; and the creation of funding and incentives to help cities curb emissions.