"There Is No Cavalry" - Cities Face Prospect Of Dealing With Climate Issues On Their Own [View all]

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St. Petersburg, Florida, is far from the largest city in the United States. It’s not even the largest city in the state of Florida. But it just pledged to do something that could make a big impact on climate action: transition its electricity to 100 percent renewable energy. The pledge — which was voted on unanimously by the city council in November — makes St. Petersburg the 20th city in the United States to pledge to move its electricity generation to 100 percent carbon-free sources.

“It moves us beyond just rhetoric to real, concrete action,” St. Petersburg city council member Karl Nurse told ThinkProgress of the city’s commitment. “The danger in politics is rhetoric. This is the real work of how do you make your city more efficient, and how do you spur your community into a series of moves that move you towards renewable energy.”

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In St. Petersburg, where sea level rise and heavier storms are already overwhelming the city’s aging sewer system, Hidalgo’s words ring especially true. For politicians and residents, the impacts of climate change aren’t something to be dealt with in the distant future — they are a reality that needs to be tackled today. “We have data in our harbor of how much sea level has risen. It’s not a big, philosophical idea,” Councilor Nurse said. “People are beginning to see the connection between these issues, so it helps. It’s not a left or right issue.”

Faced with a federal government about to be headed by a man who has called climate change a “hoax,” and a state government headed by an infamous climate denier, Florida cities, as well as cities around with country, will have to look inward for action on climate — at least for the next four years. “There is no cavalry left. We are the cavalry,” Darden Rice, St. Petersburg City Council member and chair of the city’s Energy, Natural Resources & Sustainability Committee, told ThinkProgress. “It’s left up to cities to be the innovators, to be the agents of change, and to do it in a practical way.”

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https://thinkprogress.org/st-petersburg-renewable-cities-climate-action-965d95c5c16e#.egage3se7