PRESS RELEASES - SEPTEMBER 2007

September 7, 2007

U.S. Mayors to Meet on Climate Protection
September 9-12 at Sundance Preserve

Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck will join dozens of mayors from across the country at the 2007 Sundance Summit to learn about the latest information on global warming, and what concrete steps cities can take to confront the challenges of climate change. The mayors will also get a chance to view a first screening of the film “Fighting Goliath” in which Mayor Cluck is featured.

This is the third annual gathering of U.S. mayors at the Sundance Summit, co-hosted by Robert Redford’s Sundance Preserve in Utah, Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, and ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI). A bi-partisan group of some 40 mayors, representing millions of Americans, will attend this year’s summit from large and mid-size cities, as well as small towns, representing a diverse range of communities across the nation. The Summit follows a May report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that reaffirmed the urgency of global warming, but said the worst impacts could be averted through energy efficiency and investment in cleaner technologies.

This year’s Summit will put the IPCC’s recommendations into action, providing mayors with an overview on the latest climate science, and offering practical ideas and tools to adopt solutions in their cities, such as purchasing renewable energy, advancing energy efficiency and establishing green building codes.

The Summit will also feature two unique events that will serve to inspire communication about global warming. A spoken-word performance will feature the three winners of a nationwide Youth Speaks competition to express ideas, concerns, fears, and observations about global warming.

In addition, U.S. mayors will be the first to screen the documentary “Fighting Goliath: Texas Coal Wars,” a two-part film chronicling the efforts of a group of Texas mayors and citizens to stop the construction of 18 new coal-fired power plants in the state.

For more information about the 2007 Sundance Summit, visit www.sundancesummit.org.