Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz was congratulated Wednesday morning by members of the Sierra Club for his efforts to decrease pollution and global warming in the city of Madison.
Brett Hulsey and Jennifer Feyerherm of the Sierra Club praised Cieslewicz for being the fifth signer of the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection agreement.
'Madison is a progressive city looking toward the future and for cleaner, safer ways to power that future,' said Feyerherm.
The Sierra Club is a national grassroots organization dedicated to solving the environment's most pressing problems. They are currently on their Cool Cities tour, which goes across the country to highlight efforts to reduce global warming and air pollution and to promote the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection program.
The tour also highlighted and praised local car companies who sell or lease hybrid cars.
Local car dealership owners from Zimbrick and Kaiser Ford, among others, accompanied the event to showcase the latest in hybrid automobile technology.
The U.S. Mayors Climate Protection program is a national program inspired by the international Kyoto protocol to curb air pollution.
Mayors of 179 American cities, representing 40 million people in 38 states, have already signed the agreement and pledged to reduce carbon dioxide pollution to seven percent below 1990 levels by 2012, said Hulsey, the Sierra Club's Senior Midwest Representative.
Cieslewicz outlined several efforts by the city to curb air pollution, including free bus rides on clean-air action days, certifying the Monona Terrace as a green building, budgeting for city green building projects and having a hybrid bus fleet by 2007.
'We're only starting. There is a lot more progress to be made, but I think this is a key component in making Madison the most progressive, healthiest city in America,' Cieslewicz said.
