| Chapter Interlude: | Speech By Mayor Bernero Of Lansing, Michigan |
had an Al Gore party at my house. I had my staff over, and we watched the movie in honor of Al Gore. And I told them to forego presents and write a check to the Mid-Michigan Environmental Action Council. We had a great celebration, a little bit depressing. [coughs]
But it's a challenge to us, you know, it's a challenge. You can sit there and look at the glass half empty and say, “My God, it's over, we can't do anything,” or you can make a difference starting today. And when you see the statistics, you realize how quickly we could make a difference, if we choose to. And we've chosen to do that in Lansing.
And so, again [removes notes from jacket pocket], leadership is also about followership. When you find people doing the right things, you line up, you listen, and then you do the right thing. So I want to thank you for being in the driver's seat on this one. And we're happy to follow.
We're happy to be in cooperation with Michigan State. I see John is here from Michigan State. Thank you for your leadership. The Land Policy Institute at Michigan State University has been a phenomenal partner to us. Continues to be a partner. We're excited about what we're going to be able to do. The Board of Water and Light is working with us to become greener. They are, right now, let's face it, you know, they're a polluter, but we're all polluters because we want the energy that they provide, which is mostly through coal. They're looking to become cleaner, and we're working with them. We're working with Lansing Community College in partnership. They want to join on and do this.
So, I've done some things in Lansing. I, I, just to let you know, I'm not bragging about it, because, like I say, you, you led the charge. But we, I issued an executive order for an RPS. I learned what an RPS is: renewable portfolio standard. Which means we're looking at our energy use and making it renewable. And we've established a goal of 10 by '10, 15 by '15, and 20 by '20. The 20 percent [applause], thank you, is more aggressive than a lot of communities. And it will require the city to purchase energy-efficient products and use biofuels and we're working on all that.