Two-thirds of US cities and counties consider the environment and energy conservation a priority, but far fewer have taken steps to address those issues. And four out of five people do not consider climate change to be a high priority.
The findings are from a survey of 2,176 local governments by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA).
When asked to what extent different elements were a priority for them, 46.3 percent said it was "no priority". Another 34.6 percent said it could be "somewhat a priority". The economy was seen to be of most importance (over 90 percent) to local bodies. About 68.3 percent accorded it "high priority", and 25.9 percent said it was a "priority".
While 70 percent called energy conservation a "priority" or "high priority" and 62 percent did the same for the environment, specific plans are slower to take hold. Most (63 percent) said they had conducted energy audits of government buildings, but only 10 percent reported requiring new construction to meet US Green Building Council standards.
While 45 percent of localities have a plan for tree preservation and planting, only 14 percent had actually established greenhouse gas limits for the local government. Most (56 percent) had upgraded or retrofitted office lighting; 44 percent had increased the purchase of fuel-efficient government vehicles.
A third (34 percent) had taken actions to conserve the quantity of water from aquifers; 33 percent had adopted a water price structure to encourage conservation; 30 percent had set limits on impervious surfaces on private property.
The survey was developed with the input of ICMA’s Center for Sustainable Communities, the Centre for Urban Innovation, Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability (ASU GIOS), the Alliance for Innovation, and others. It was sent to 8,569 local governments. The response rate was 25.4 percent, with 2,176 local governments responding.
