Support Bus Service Proposal

According to the April 2, 2008 Charlevoix Courier, the Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers (MARP) Vice Chairman and Charlevoix resident Don Monteith have proposed that MDOT establish daily bus service to our area, providing a link to Amtrak rail service in Kalamazoo, and from there to the entire country.

With energy prices rising and a grave oil shortage looming, it is essential that we quickly establish mass transit in this area.  Call or write your state congressman, Rep. Kevin Elsenheimer, 517-373-8764, kevinelsenheimer@house.mi.gov, or your state senator, Jason Allen, 517-373-2413, senjallen@senate.michigan.gov, to express your support for this proposal.

Our future depends upon it!

Sign the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement!

The City of Seattle drafted the Agreement in February of 2005, and has encouraged the mayors of cities across the country to sign it. In 2005, the bi-artisan U.S. Conference of Mayors unanimously endorsed the Agreement. As of January 1, 2008, the mayors of 754 cities with population of 30,000 or more, representing nearly 77 million U.S. citizens, have signed the agreement. A number of counties and smaller villages and towns have also signed the agreement.

By signing the Mayors Climate Agreement, cities commit to the following:

• To set the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in their own cites and communities by 7% below 1990 levels by 2012;


• To urge the State and Federal governments to enact policies and programs to reduce global warming pollutants to 7% below 1990 levels by 2012;


• To urge the U.S. Congress to pass greenhouse gas reduction legislation that includes clear timetables, emissions limits, and system of tradable allowances among emitting industries.

The Climate Protection Agreement was drafted in response to the United States government’s refusal to ratify the Kyoto Protocol international global warming treaty, which established greenhouse gas reduction goals, and was ratified by 141 countries.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference was held in Bali December 3 – 14 of 2007. Its purpose was to develop and agree to a comprehensive global response to climate change by the end of 2009, and more specifically, to replace the Kyoto emission reduction targets, which expire in 2012. The European Union took a leadership role, urging countries to immediately adopt emission reduction standards of 25% – 40%.

The EU delegates worked with the U.S. to reach an agreement not to set specific goals at the conference, but to begin a two-year process of negotiations instead. The EU also worked with developing countries (particularly China) to hammer out an agreement in principle to include them in the eventual reduction targets. The U.S., which had threatened until the last minute not to support the agreement, yielded to international and domestic pressure, and joined the other countries at the conference in unanimously endorsing it.

Since Kyoto, public opinion in the United States has shifted dramatically. All major scientific groups and most citizens agree that global climate change is occurring, and there is near consensus that quick action to reduce emissions is necessary.

In 2007 Charlevoix's Mayor Carlson and the City Council declined to sign the agreement. Only two members of the Council voted for the resolution, and one of them has since left the Council. I believe that there is public support for this resolution, and that we can take it to the Council again. Help me get this done!

Because Charlevoix is a Cool City

Grants, loans, tax credits -- available to us because we're, according to the State of Michigan, a Cool City.

Check out the Cool Cities toolbox:

http://www.mshda.info/cci/tools/