The meter is running

Charlotte, N.C.’s Area Transit System operates two hybrid buses that officials say improve fuel economy and lower emissions. Albuquerque, N.M., and Boston are only purchasing alternative-fueled cars. And in Chicago, Mayor Richard Daley says the city will erect four wind turbines on the roof of a public building to generate electricity.

With rising energy costs, record gasoline prices and a divided Congress, individual communities are trying to lower energy consumption and use alternative sources for fuel. Mayors say the energy crisis needs to be addressed immediately, and local governments cannot wait for the federal government to act. “We must have a comprehensive energy plan, and it can be started at the local level and expanded nationwide,” says Charlotte Mayor Patrick McCrory.

Congress has witnessed more than 30 energy bills this year, but many say the proposals would not lower gas prices in the short-term. In early May, President Bush asked Congress for the authority to modify fuel-economy requirements for automakers, however, many Republicans are opposed to changing the standards. Also, Democrats have tried to reduce some tax incentives and credits, but Republicans have blocked those efforts.

“As mayors, we are all being [affected] by the energy crisis — in the way of environmental impacts, gas prices, rising costs of materials,” McCrory says. “A national energy policy may not start from the top down, but may be a grassroots effort. And cities are already doing things without waiting for Congress.”

In fact, dozens of cities recently outlined ways they have addressed air quality and climate change using alternative sources of energy, switching to alternative fuels and vehicles, and constructing energy-efficient buildings. The results have been published in the “Energy & Environment Best Practices” guide issued by the Washington-based U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM).

“There is so much demand for energy, and we have to change our direction. We need to talk about what mayors are doing,” says Long Beach, Calif., Mayor Beverly O’Neill. O’Neill, who also is USCM president, says local officials feel the federal government “should invest more money in transportation options and encourage more mixed-use development that would allow for more walkable communities.”

At a mid-May summit in Chicago on energy and the environment, city officials discussed the issues and local governments’ actions. They produced a best practices report and suggested constructing more energy efficient buildings, offering additional incentives for making and purchasing energy efficient cars and providing incentives for investment in renewable and alternative energy sources.

McCrory also stresses the need for the discussions to be comprehensive — not just focused on one solution. “The more choice a city gives to its consumers in both conservation and alternative sources of energy, the more competitive it will be,” he says.

The federal government “realizes we have an energy crisis, but I don’t know if they know what a crisis it is,” says O’Neill. “Mayors meet it daily in budgets and in constituents’ outrage over what is happening and why the government can’t do something about it.”

The author is the Washington correspondent for American City & County.