1 / 7 Strengthen city, county and state climate efforts

If the federal government refuses to stand up against climate change, it’ll be more important than ever for cities, counties and states to pick up the slack and become climate leaders. That means committing to divest from fossil fuels, embrace clean energy, set emissions targets and <a href="http://www.c2es.org/us-states-regions/key-legislation" target="_blank">develop climate action plans</a>, among other measures.<br><br>“The ominous signals coming out of D.C. point to even more work needed at the city and state level,” said Kate Kiely, national media deputy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. In November, the NRDC announced partnerships with <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/christina-angelides/ten-new-cities-join-city-energy-project" target="_blank">20 cities</a> across the country from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Houston, Texas, to make strides in renewable energy.<br><br>According to Brune, cities could have an especially big influence in the climate change fight. “We should be pushing cities to go 100 percent clean energy and to reject natural gas and coal and other fossil fuels,” he said. “A majority of people now live in cities, so this could have a dramatic impact.” <br><br>In the U.S., at least <a href="http://motherboard.vice.com/read/st-petersberg-fla-100-percent-renewable-energy" target="_blank">20 cities</a> have made commitments to rely completely on clean energy. <br><br>“People should organize and get their own cities to move forward,” Brune said. <br><br>Contact your mayor, city council, or county or state representative and get them to set a timeline to stop using fossil fuels.

Eduardo Munoz/Reuters