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Villaraigosa: Cities with green initiatives should pressure national governments
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa gestures during a debate at the Climate Summit for Mayors at the Copenhagen City Hall on December 16, 2009.
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Villaraigosa: Cities with green initiatives should pressure national governments
Villaraigosa: Cities with green initiatives should pressure national governments
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Tuesday described his trip to Copenhagen for the United Nations climate change conference as a productive one.
Villaraigosa said Copenhagen gave him and other mayors an opportunity to promote their green initiatives.
“Cities aren’t going to wait," said Villaraigosa. "They’re going to continue forward and they’re going to put pressure on their national governments to do the same.”
He offered no details on what he learned in Copenhagen.
City Council President Eric Garcetti said he’d like to see Villaraigosa offer more leadership on greenhouse gas emissions.
“I would like to see him perhaps begin to initiate not just around this country but around the world an agreement between mayors and city councils to adopt voluntary standards if the national ones don’t come through," said Garcetti.
The mayor’s week-long trip included stops in Berlin and London, where he urged businesses to invest in L.A.
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The trip cost taxpayers more than $120,000 dollars.
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