Mayors, councilmembers and county commissioners from across Colorado will gather in Aspen Thursday and Friday to discuss climate change initiatives.
Aspen Mayor Steve Skadron attended the 2015 Paris climate talks as part of an international organization of mayors who commit to local action to reduce greenhouse gasses. Now he wants to use that experience as a model to create a statewide network of communities that want to act on climate change.
The first step is to get everyone in the same room, so 86 government officials from ski towns, Front Range communities and small towns as far away as Wray, Colorado, will meet in Aspen this week.
“It’s going to be a fun event,” Skadron said. “It’s not a room full of climate zealots telling you to sell your car and eat tofu. It’s a balanced exchange around sound principles of a clean economy.”
The ultimate goal of the summit is to encourage attendees to sign on to a new organization called the Compact of Colorado Communities. Skadron describes this as “a network of Colorado mayors and elected officials dedicated to fighting climate change in their communities.”