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Aspen Mayor Steve Skadron On Environmental Leadership

Roger Adams

Aspen Mayor Steve Skadron sat on the panel “Change Impact and Action” last week at the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies. They discussed what the changing climate means for recreation, agriculture and local economies.

In this discussion, what was identified as the biggest hurdle in taking action against climate change?

In my opinion, the biggest hurdle is inaction at both state and national levels. We’ve been successful because we’ve been active at a local level to prioritize what hasn’t been getting done at those levels.

 

What about acting at the local level is more effective, or different, that’s not being done at the state or national level?

 

It becomes a priority here. Because it’s a priority, officials are able to enact legislation around policies that can address climate change.

 

Aspen is literally upstream from a lot of other places. What can we do that will affect other communities downstream, not just as a water leader, but in terms of policy and leadership?

That’s really important. I think a place like Aspen should stand for something. What it should stand for, as I mentioned earlier is being stewards of the environment, second to none. I think while we can always do better, we’ve done a pretty darn good job in ensuring we have our local health in order.

 

We’ve taken action, and I’ve been pretty aggressive in this area, around using Aspen as a lever to push on state and national levels, that’s the power of our brand, our identity, and while a small town like this one isn’t going to change the climate issues….we can lead by example.

What is one specific area where Aspen is, or could be a leader?

First of all, we spent 10 years and we were able to convert our electric utility to run on 100 percent renewable resources. And we were one of a handful of cities to get that done.

 

That’s an example of how a small town can punch far above its weight, and become an example for so many other places.

 

You touched on this when you mentioned the brand of the city having a lot of power and weight, but what else enables Aspen to be effective at promoting change in the environmental area?

 

Our local economy depends on it. It’s in our own interest. The strength of our local economy is directly tied to the health of our natural environment. Last summer was the first time our summer tax receipts exceeded those of winter. And it’s going to happen again this summer. That’s quite significant for a ski town.

 

In this panel, is there anything people agreed on, or disagreed on, that's interesting and relevant to this conversation?

 

Generally, the panel was in agreement with one another. Kerry Donovan, our state senator, discussed issues at the state level. Cooper Means, from the Aspen Farm Collective talked about the realities of farming and how climate change impacts issues he sees every day. And Matt Hamilton from the Ski Company talked about issues from the corporate side. Fortunately, our value sets are kind of aligned with one another.

 

What was your biggest takeaway from the panel? What’s something you learned or discovered?

 

I thought it was really valuable to hear the head of a local farm collective emphasize the need to address these issues. More importantly, I valued that our largest private sector player in town shares the same concerns around these issues that the public sector does.

 

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