Former President Bill Clinton (speaking at a press conference in New York) announced that 16 cities will receive financing to facilitate the transition to "go green" as part of global plan to reduce carbon emissions and save energy. The sixteen cities are based around the world and include New York, Chicago, Houston, Tokyo, Berlin, London, and Rome, among others.
Bill Clinton's foundation has arranged for four major energy service companies and five global banking institutions, which include Citi, JP Morgan Chase, and Deutsche Bank, to contribute $1 billion each to help finance the cities movement to "go green". The cities will perform widespread renovations of buildings and factories, utilizing new technology to cut carbon emissions and save energy.
Quoted in an Associated Press article on Yahoo News, former President Bill Clinton said, "If all buildings were as efficient as they could be, we'd be saving an enormous amount of energy and significantly reducing carbon emissions. Also, we'd be saving a ton of money."
Bill Clinton made the announcement alongside the mayors of several cities, including Mayor Bloomberg, who was quoted in the Associated Press article on Yahoo News as saying, ""It really is groundbreaking; it really is going to make a difference."
The meeting of Bill Clinton and the mayors is the second such meeting of the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit, which was created for the purpose of devising and sharing strategies to combat climate change and enable cities to become more energy-efficient.
Many cities across the world, including Chicago, have already taken steps to "go green", and have managed to save huge amounts in energy costs over the past several years as a result.
Bill Clinton wants his foundation to expand the number of cities that will receive financing in future months. In an Associated Press article on Yahoo News, Warren Karlenzig, author of "How Green Is Your City?", said, "The technology is there; it's just that the financing has been missing."
