The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative (Cities Initiative) is proud to announce the newest member of the Board of Directors, Mayor Emily Larson of Duluth, Minnesota. Mayor Larson will be joining as the 16th member of the Board. As a prominent shipping port and the second-largest city on Lake Superior, the City of… Read More about “Duluth’s Mayor Larson Joins Cities Initiative Board of Directors”
Cities Initiative Executive Director David Ullrich spoke at the Michigan Water Symposium on January 14, 2016. In his interview with Kirk Heinze of MLive, Ullrich discussed his experiences at the Paris Climate Summit for Local Leaders in early December and the importance of collaborative work between urban and rural stakeholders, saying, “there is a natural partnership between… Read More about “Cities Initiative Exec. Director talks Urban-Rural Partnerships”
“The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, and the second best time is now.” – Chinese Proverb The 21st Conference of the Parties on Climate Change was held in Paris in December 2015. Among the activities scheduled was the Climate Summit for Local Leaders, which gathered mayors and other representatives of… Read More about “What It’s Like to be in a Room with 446 Mayors: Dave Ullrich on COP21”
Over the past few months, Cities Initiative staff have inventoried action on climate change by member municipalities in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Region. Of our 119 members: 73 are taking action on climate change in some way 31 have implemented greenhouse gas reduction targets 17 have joined the Compact of Mayors, an international effort for local… Read More about “Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Municipalities Act on Climate Change”
The Cities Initiative is excited to partner with the Compact of Mayors, an organization created by Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City, who serves as a Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change for the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The Compact demonstrates local government leadership in addressing greenhouse gas emissions in the… Read More about “Cities lead on climate action, GLSLCI partners with Compact of Mayors”
The U.S. EPA and Environment Canada will hold lake-specific webinars during the first week of September to inform stakeholders of issues and management plans in each of the five Great Lakes. These webinars are part of outreach efforts from the Annex 2 subcommittee of the Great Lakes Executive Committee (GLEC). See below for registration details…. Read More about “Lake-Specific Webinars”
The Cities Initiative is now on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/GLSLcities. Like the page for Cities Initiative updates, articles, and photos from events.
One year after the Toledo Water Crisis, Cities Initiative Executive Director David Ullrich stated, “We still have algal blooms in Lake Erie. It’s time to move ahead together as cities, industries, and farms to reduce nutrient loadings aggressively to meet the Governors’ and Premier’s 40% reduction goal by 2025.” In June 2015, the Cities Initiative… Read More about “Anniversary of the Toledo Water Crisis: Action on Nutrients still needed”
Today the Canadian federal government announced that that Canada is developing measures to ban microbeads; these measures will protect the Great Lakes – St. Lawrence region from the harmful effects of these contaminants. This announcement comes on the heels of Environment Canada’s scientific report on microbeads, which concludes that the substance represents a threat to environmental… Read More about “Canadian government plans to ban Microbeads”
The Cities Initiative was honored to welcome Premier Kathleen Wynne as the keynote speaker at this year’s Annual Meeting and Conference. At the 2015 Annual Meeting, the Cities Initiative addressed several key issues, most notably: Endorsed the Western Lake Erie Collaborative Agreement, which supports a 40% reduction in phosphorus entering the Western Lake Erie Basin,… Read More about “2015 Annual Meeting: Sarnia/Lambton County, Ontario”
