Mayor of Salt Lake City and Chair of the Alliance for a Sustainable Future Jackie Biskupski speaks in San Francisco surrounded by members of the Alliance.

The federal government’s leadership role in addressing climate change has greatly diminished, from the announced withdrawal from the Paris Agreement to the example set by recent domestic actions to freeze vehicle standards and rollback power sector targets. This is unfortunate and has real consequences, coinciding with several years of increasing average global temperatures, record flooding, heat waves, droughts, and wildfires. The need for action is growing increasingly urgent as the impacts are felt in urban, suburban, and rural America.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) formed the Alliance for a Sustainable Future to provide a platform for the public and private sectors to accelerate carbon reduction programs and sustainable development, as well as strengthen partnerships toward mutual sustainability and climate goals.