Hello, my name is Miriam Keller, President of the League of Women Voters of Fremont, Newark and Union City. Recently, Mayor Wasserman joined more than 220 mayors, representing 43 million Americans in 39 states, in a pledge to reduce heat-trapping global warming pollution in their cities by 7% below 1990 levels by 2012.

By signing the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, Mayor Wasserman has taken the first step towards making our city a "cool" city. The League of Women Voters of Fremont, Newark, and Union City applauds Mayor Wasserman and the City of Fremont for signing the U.S. Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement, and now calls on the City to take proactive steps to fulfill its obligation to the agreement, which calls for local municipal actions to reduce global warming pollution.

Fremont has made a good start by 

• adopting a policy requiring most City buildings be designed to the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED-certified level in July 2006
• Using energy efficiency lighting and equipment including converting the City’s vehicle traffic and pedestrian signals, to energy-saving Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights that are already reducing energy usage by about 85%... 
• And converting lights in City buildings to compact fluorescents and other energy efficient lights dropping energy consumption by 33%. 

We also request that the Council form a Green Ribbon Task Force to work with the City to identify other opportunities to reduce green house gas emissions, and respectfully request you include a LWVFNUC member on this task force.

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Lastly, the League of Women Voters presents Mayor Wasserman a Certificate of Appreciation for taking steps to stop climate change one city at a time and invites the City Council to attend our program "Cool Cities - Solving Global Warming One City at a Time" at the Fremont Main Library on Saturday, April 28^th at 9:30am.

Mayor, Council Members and Staff,
My name is Susan Gearhart, for the League of Women Voters of Fremont, Newark and Union City.  The League of Women Voters of the United States, the Bay Area and Fremont Newark and Union City believe global warming is a serious problem requiring immediate action.  As you are aware the scientific community under the auspices of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in a comprehensive study concurs.  In November 2006, the League was a signer with 21 other citizens groups, including the Sierra Club, to the Citizens’ Climate Policy, which calls for federal efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote clean and efficient sources of energy, and to commence these efforts immediately. 

The League of Women Voters of Fremont, Newark and Union City affirms the need to immediately address global warming at a local level.  We call on the City of Union City to sign the U. S. Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement to curb global warming pollution citywide by 7% below 1990 levels by 2012. The Mayors of both Fremont and Newark have already signed this agreement as have many other Bay Area cities.

We urge the City of Union City to proactively address global warming by developing sustainability guidelines, auditing the energy-efficiency of City buildings, and implementing water-savings programs. 

We also request that the Council form a Green Ribbon Task Force to work with the City to identify other opportunities to reduce green house gas emissions, and respectfully request you include a LWVFNUC member on this task force.

The LWVFNUC recognizes the great environmental and economic risks inherent in global warming.  We also recognize that local action can help to limit its long-term effects.  The League looks forward to working with you to identify solutions to the problem of global warming. 

We invite the Staff and Council Members to our program on April 28th, Solving Global Warming One City at a Time, we have speakers from EcoCity Structures, Environmental Defense, Build it Green and NASA Ames and hope to see yu there.

Thank you for your time,
Susan