Cool and Green In Iowa City
"We're here today to have Iowa City become one of the coolest cities in America," Iowa City Sierra Club leader Mike Carberry (seated above, at right) told the assembled crowd at a news conference this April at which Mayor Ross Wilburn (seated at left) signed the U.S. Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement to reduce global warming emissions. With prodding by the Sierra Club, the Iowa City City Council recently installed energy-saving LED traffic lights, and the city plans to develop a major new recycling center. At the press conference, Wilburn emphasized the role he hopes local residents will play in "growing a green city," citing the recent cleanup of Ralston Creek in which tons of debris was removed. Iowa Sierra Club organizer Mark Kresowik (holding banner at left, above, with Robert Anderson of the University of Iowa Environmental Coalition) says the Sierra Club's top priority in Iowa City now is to revise city building codes and zoning ordinances to encourage more energy-efficient building standards. Read more about Cool Cities.
