The Monongahela Group of Sierra Club has been encouraging the
Morgantown City Council to participate in the Cool Cites Campaign by
signing the U. S, Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement. This Agreement
pledges the City to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases by 7 %
below 1990 levels by the year 2012. The real goal of this Campaign is
not so much in passing a resolution, but in providing a long-term
mechanism to develop an emissions baseline, implement emissions
reductions, and track success in a meaningful way.

It is clear that, although we might get a resolution passed in City
Council, the effort needed to actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions
will require community support beyond what can be generated by any one
organization. Thus it is our hope to engage the broader community in
this effort as a long range campaign to conserve energy and reduce
pollution emissions. While many money-saving practices can be adopted
easily, some of the changes needed may require substantive efforts by
the City, and this can only happen if their is broad support in advance.
Thus we want to engage other organizations in this effort early, and
identify ways that each can build on the strenghts of the others to
encourage wider participation.

While there has been some support in Morgantown City Council, it is
clear that a broader community-wide effort is now needed. Therefore, we
plan to host a meeting of community leaders at 7 PM on Nov. 15 at the
Morgantown Public Safety Building.

Our tentative agenda would include:
1) Introduction of the organization representatives and interested
citizens,
2) Introduction to the U. S, Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement and
resources available through the the Cool Cities Campaign.
3) Informal brainstorming and planning to identify specific needs of
each entity and how they can contribute most effectively.
4) Develop a list of actions and tactics as "next steps" in the
campaign.
5) Social hour for further informal discussions