Seattle Named Among Best In World At Fighting Climate Change

SEATTLE — A new report has given 21 American cities — including Seattle — an “A” grade when it comes to cutting emissions and setting climate strategies. The Carbon Disclosure Project, based in New York City, released its A-list grades this week. Nearly 600 cities across the globe received scores ranging from “A” to “D” based on how effectively they’re managing, measuring and combating greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate change refers to severe changes in the earth’s temperature, rainfall, snow and wind patterns, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People are mainly responsible for the “drastic warming” seen in recent decades because they release greenhouse gases when burning fossil fuels like coal and oil, using energy to drive or using electricity to light and heat homes and businesses. These greenhouse gases then trap heat in the atmosphere, causing the earth’s temperature to increase.

The best cities identified in the report have shown they have strong strategies to adapt to and mitigate climate change. All 43 cities across the globe that received “A” grades have lofty targets to reduce emissions — 14 aim to be climate- or carbon-neutral by 2050 — and each also consistently tracks emissions. Four cities, including Minneapolis and San Francisco, even plan to have all their used energy come from renewable sources.

California was home to nine of the 21 A-listers in the United States, by far the most of any state. New York and Colorado tied for second with two cities a piece. Here are all the U.S. cities:

• Arlington, VA
• Benicia, CA
• Boston, MA
• Cleveland, OH
• Denver, CO
• Emeryville, CA
• Fremont, CA
• Hayward, CA
• Indianapolis, IN
• Lakewood, CO
• Minneapolis, MN
• New York City, NY
• Oakland, CA
• Palo Alto, CA
• Piedmont, CA
• Rochester, NY
• San Francisco, CA
• San Leandro, CA
• Seattle, WA
• Washington, D.C.
• West Palm Beach, FL

The authors noted that just 7 percent of cities across the globe earned an “A” grade. Kyra Appleby, global director for cities, states and regions at the nonprofit, said the need for action has “never been more urgent.”

“Cities house more than half of the world's population and are responsible for over 70 percent of the world's energy-related carbon emissions, so they could make or break efforts to tackle climate change,” Appleby said in a news release.

The report highlighted several measures cities are taking to try to protect the planet.

Central London drivers who pollute the most must pay more to drive. Calgary is building a new light rail system and officials expect it will cut 30,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent from traffic emissions every year. (That’s the same as taking more than 23,000 cars off the road each year.)

The latest estimates from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicate the global economy must reduce global emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050 in order to have good odds of keeping global temperatures within 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming. Current national action plans would not meet that goal, the report said, citing carbon tracing research.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.