Since taking office in 2000, Democrat Mayor Ross (Rocky) Anderson has been an outspoken advocate for the environment. He committed Salt Lake City, in its municipal operations, to abide by the Kyoto Protocol. By 2005, Salt Lake City far exceeded its Kyoto goal, 7 years before the Protocol’s 2012 target date. To date, the city has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 31% from 2001 levels.

Anderson will give the keynote speech to the Green Building Expo at noon on Thurs., Sept. 13 at the Columbus Athenaeum, 32 N. Fourth St. (See Community Events for details on the Expo). The cost of the lecture is $10, and the cost of the entire day’s events is $60.

In 2003, Mayor Anderson received the Climate Protection Award from the US EPA. In 2002, he received the “Political Leader of the Year” award from the Utah chapter of the Sierra Club and the Distinguished Service Award from the national Sierra Club.

Anderson established cogeneration plants at the city’s landfill and wastewater treatment facility that recapture methane to generate electricity. In November 2005, Salt Lake City won the World Leadership Award for the environment for its Salt Lake City Green Program, perhaps the most comprehensive environmental program in the US. Anderson was also named by Business Week as one of the top 20 international figures working to combat climate change.

Anderson is a proponent of transit-oriented urban housing and walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods that do not perpetuate dependence on the automobile or further sprawl development. He has implemented an extensive pedestrian safety program, which garnered Salt Lake City the Surface Transportation Policy Project's 2004 award for most improved city for pedestrian safety, and the 2006 America Walks "City at Your Feet" award. This list of his awards is long.

Anderson is an ardent opponent of tobacco use and a strong advocate for the rights and interests of minority communities, recently establishing a city Office of Diversity. He founded the Salt Lake City International Jazz Festival, now in its seventh year. He has led and spoken at protests against President Bush, calling the Iraq war “illegal and immoral”.

Call your local leaders and ask them to attend and get ideas from this environmental hero!