When it comes to climate change, a major part of President Barack Obama's plan is to promote ideas and solutions at state and local levels. Last month, surrounded by his task force of state, local and tribal leaders, Obama unveiled a national climate preparedness plan, pressing forward in his commitment to combat the effects of climate change in the United States. The plan activates a variety of federal agencies to implement recommendations from the task force. The Department of Agriculture will award more than $236 million in grants to improve rural electricity infrastructure in eight states. The U.S. Geological Survey will spend $13 million to develop advanced 3-D mapping that will allow cities and states to respond to weather-related disasters. "We’re going to help communities improve their electric grids, build stronger seawalls and natural barriers and protect their water supplies," said Obama. "We’re also going to invest in stronger and more resilient infrastructure." The new federal initiatives are an example of what the president has called his "year of action." And with a pen and a phone, he's sidestepping Congress through executive orders. What do mayors think of the recommendations made by the president's task force? What are mayors already doing to combat climate change? How are politics affecting their progress? We consulted a panel of experts for the Inside Story.

What were the main takeaways from your recommendations for the president on the White House task force? There's a lot of work yet to be done. It's important to look back to the purpose of task force. It's a way for the administration to help local governments do what they're already doing in terms of mitigating and adapting to climate change. It's also important to remember that almost all mayors of cities with over 30,000 residents voluntarily signed what is, in essence, an agreement like the Kyoto protocol, pledging to work toward voluntarily goals of reducing emissions of carbon in their own cities. Mayors have been doing things in their own cites, and the White House recognizes that. The White House is asking us, "How can we support you, since we won't get large environment legislation through Congress?" What are some specific reforms you’ve made in Carmel? I issued an executive order to require all [city] fleets to be electric. We are hydrogen testing. We are a huge user of electricity, and we get it from coal plants. Now we’re taking the flame and using it to turn product into fertilizer. We used to spend half of a million dollars a year on this, and now we’re using it and selling it to landscapers and giving it away to our constituents. We’re developing our city center core as a pedestrian-friendly, walkable environment. We have built more roundabouts than any other city in country. We do it because it's cheap to build, reduces accidents, and we save millions of gallons of fuel per year. How is politics affecting the process of change? That's important if you look at the history of leadership on fighting climate change in the U.S., it's traditionally come from Republican Party It started with [Teddy] Roosevelt setting aside millions of acres of land for a federal park system. It was [Richard] Nixon who signed the bill that set up the Environmental Protection Agency and started Earth Day. He signed the Endangered Species Act. I remember [Ronald] Reagan and [U.K. Prime Minister Margaret] Thatcher talking about climate change in the 1980s. She understood that the climate was changing and caused by man-made activities. People from both sides of aisle should want those things, and it doesn’t make sense to make this a partisan issue.