There are a variety of organizations that can help local governments take action to reduce emissions and the effects of climate change.

Cool County Initiative

To join the Cool Counties Initiative, your county needs to commit to:

  1. Reduce your own contributions to climate change through changes in your internal operations.
  2. Work with your communities to reduce county-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent below current levels by 2050, an annual average of 2 percent.
    Identify local vulnerabilities to climate change and create a plan to address them.
  3. Work with counterparts nationally to urge the federal government to adopt legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below current levels by 2050.

Hennepin County is the first county in Minnesota to join Cool Counties.

Cool Cities Initiative

Cities can join the Cool Cities Initiative by signing the U.S. Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement and agreeing to:

  1. Strive to meet or beat the Kyoto Protocol targets in their own communities.
  2. Urge their state government and the federal government to enact policies and programs to meet or beat the greenhouse gas emission reduction target suggested for the United States in the Kyoto Protocol - 7 percent reduction from 1990 levels by 2012.
  3. Urge the U.S. Congress to pass the bipartisan greenhouse gas reduction legislation, which would establish a national emissions trading system.

Hennepin County cities that have joined Cool Cities:

  • Eden Prairie
  • Edina
  • Minneapolis

I.C.L.E.I. - Local Governments for Sustinability

I.C.L.E.I - Local Governments for Sustainability assists local governments in taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and measure results.