PETITION CLOSED

  • The time period for signing this petition has ended.
Tell Mayors of Houston and Memphis to Help Stop Climate Change!
  1. Signatures
    3,265 out of 5,000
    Petitioning
    1. Mayor of Houston, TX (+ 1 other)
      Petitioning
      close
      • Mayor of Houston, TX (Annise D. Parker)
      • Mayor of Memphis, TN (A C Wharton, Jr.)
  2. Created By
    Marah Hardt
    Kailua Kona, HI
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

To date, over one thousand mayors from cities and towns across America have signed on to the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.  This initiative, started in 2005, aims to encourage cities meet or beat the emissions reductions outlined by the Kyoto Protocol—raising mayors to a level a leadership yet to be seen by our country, which at the national and international levels has remained so woefully incompentent. 

However, though most major and lots of minor cities have joined in the pledge, from New York City (population 8.3 million) to Hilo, Hawaii (population 135,000), there are many mayors who have yet to embrace this movement. Three of the top-20 biggest cities in the U.S. by population size are conspicuously absent from the Agreement, including the fourth largest city in the country, Houston, TX, and the 19th largest city, Memphis, TN. (Charlotte, NC was also originally on this petition, but has been removed because the mayor has already signed onto the climate agreement.)

Help these mayors understand that this next decade of the 21st century demands their leadership as much as it does our President's. Sign the below petition asking them to join the 1047 other mayors in this country who are working towards a more sustianable future for our cities, country, and planet. If you are a resident of one of these three cities, make sure to edit the petition to say so.

If you are from another city, check out the list of signatories here and make sure your mayor has signed on. If not, start your own petition or let us know (environment@change.org) and we'll be sure to get a petition up to them, too.

photo credit: Wikipedia

Why People Are Signing
Recent Signatures

The New Year Requires New Climate Change Leadership By YOU

Dear Honorable Mayor

Climate change continues to accelerate across the globe, bringing increased storms, droughts, flooding, and sea level rise. These impacts differentially affect women and children, and the poorest individuals on our planet. The effects of climate change touch us all, threatening water supplies, food supplies, health, and national security, just to name a few.

As national and international climate change negotiations continue to be stymied by politics at its worst, we see a rising tide of new, effective leadership from the community level: the purview of mayors. To date, over one thousand of your fellow American mayors have signed onto the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, stepping forward to lead their cities to a more responsible and sustainable future. But you have not yet joined them.

I am writing you now to humbly and emphatically ask that you will.

This initiative has been embraced by a wide range of cities, from small to large, showing that reduced emissions is a challenge every community has the power to tackle. As one of the nation's top 20 biggest urban centers, there is even more need for you to join on board—the example your city can set for the rest of the country, and the world, may be the tipping point for generating a new wave of effort to reach emission reductions in time to prevent future calamity.

Please, don't waste this opportunity to let your city rise above the parochial and help become leaders in the fight against our greatest global challenge. Sign the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement today.

I look forward to reading about the bold leadership you have taken, and the positive ripple effect it has throughout our communities, soon.

[Your name]

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