Mayor Mary Casillas Salas is Paris on the climate talks. The city has had a COP21 involved. I asked what she wanted to get out of Paris this time. We have a delegate of 14 mayors from the United States. We have been selected to be here because each one of our cities have had a local plan for carbon reduction for quite some time. We are like-minded mayors whose see actions that can be done locally to impact carbon reduction. Chula Vista has a long issue. You started addressing this issue in 1994. People do not know that the city of Chula Vista has been engaged in thinking about global warming and climate change. We joined in this organization called ICLIE in 1994. ICLIE is an organization of local government for sustainability. We have been working on making sure we develop a community that is sustainable and we institute best practices so we have an impact on our environment. For example, Chula Vista was the first city and all of the state of California, to adopt multiple species conservation plan. That is why we have so many beautiful open spaces and all our new developments. More than 50% of the new development in Chula Vista, 50% of the space, is dedicated to open space and parks. It is things like that. We have an advantage so much of our community is new. Greenfield development that we were able to put purple pipe infrastructure before development occurred. That is why we have so much of our city Park and open spaces and HLA's better irrigated to recycle water. We did institute a bunch of initiative in Chula Vista. It's been up plan of smart growth. What do you hope as the mayor Chula Vista, what you hope to accomplish in Paris? We have joined the organization is a compact of mayors, we are 170 mayors in the United State has signed on to this. It is a commitment to continue reduce local greenhouse gas emissions and to enhance resilience to climate change and to do this involving the public so we can demonstrate that what you do locally does matter. For example, 70% of the emissions are produced by the cities themselves. There are a number of things you can institute that really are beneficial to your community that actually enhance businesses rather than take away. That is always a big debate. If you impose these regulation were business suffer for it? We have been able to demonstrate that business does not suffer for it. As a matter fact, we created a lot of jobs by people getting solar energy and etc. We need to let you go. For I do, LA Times looked at all the California people in Paris over the next week. Why do you think the state has more people at this conference than many countries have? I believe because the state of California is a leader in environmental things. Going from seaQuest to a B 32 which was the implementation of our goals for climate change. Insisting that 30% of our energy be from green power, green energy sources. All those things the state of California have been so forward-looking. Many of the cities that are here, particularly Santa Monica,, have really worked hard to make sure we have an environmentally sound community for kids in the future. That is why California has such strong representation. Chula Vista Mayor Mary Casillas Salas, thank you for being on here
Some 20 years ago, Chula Vista joined ICLIE, the International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives. Six years later, the city had crafted its own carbon reduction and sustainability plan.
This early and assertive start to addressing climate change snagged Chula Vista Mayor Mary Casillas Salas an invitation to COP21, the climate conference going on now in Paris. She is one of just 11 U.S. mayors attending out of the 14 invited.
"We're all here because we've all had carbon reduction plans for some time," Salas told Midday Edition on Thursday.
San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer was not among the U.S. mayors invited.
Chula Vista has long put its efforts into greenhouse gas reduction, utility cost savings, reducing traffic, and healthier and more connected neighborhoods. The city signed the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement in 2006 and the Compact of Mayors in 2015.
Salas said more than 50 percent of the land in Chula Vista is dedicated to open space.
“We’ve had an advantage because so much of our community is new,” Salas said.
She said the city has been able to develop the infrastructure and standard before builders build.
Moving forward, she’s one of 170 mayors who have committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing the resilience to climate change.
“To do this, we’re involving the public so we can demonstrate what you do locally does matter,” Salas said.
