What the Founding Partners are saying
Meeting the Kyoto target, and becoming the nation’s most climate-friendly city, will require the ultimate team effort. Every household and business in our community will need to play a part. The Seattle Climate Partnership will be a key part of this effort. Through this unique community Partnership, the City will join with other major employers throughout the Seattle area to share expertise and experience, and take action together to meet our climate protection goals. I believe this collaborative approach will be a model for other cities across the country.
-- Mayor Greg Nickels, City of Seattle
Climate change is one of the most significant challenges of our time, and the scientific consensus is that most of the observed global warming in temperatures over the last 50 years is likely to have been due to the human-induced increase in greenhouse gas concentrations… Recognizing that leadership is fundamental to ensure a legacy for the future and to protect the healthy and safe learning and working environments valued by the UW, we look forward to working with the founding partners of the Seattle Climate Partnership, including the City of Seattle, to promote the community-wide goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 7% below 1990 levels by 2012.
-- Mark A. Emmert, PhD, President, University of Washington
Starbucks believes that meaningful action must be taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We are pursuing three main elements to mitigate our own emissions: purchasing renewable energy certificates to offset 20 percent of the energy used in our US and Canada operated stores, focusing on energy conservation activities at all our stores, and advocating the need for collaborative action on climate change. In the spirit of collaboration, we are excited to work with the City and other founding partners to develop the Seattle Climate Partnership Agreement.
-- Ben Packard, Director of Environmental Affairs, Starbucks
Climate change is an issue of increasing importance to our environment, our community and REI’s business. As an outdoor recreation company and as a co-op made up of employees and members who value the outdoors, we are concerned about the impacts of human induced changes to our environment. We have made a commitment to a long term process of sustainability that asks us to make business decisions that consider the financial, environmental and social impacts or our actions. Reducing our Green House Gas emissions is part of that effort. We believe that the Seattle Climate Partnership is a great way to work together with others to address difficult problems and find collaborative solutions. We appreciate the opportunity Mayor Nickels and the Green Ribbon Commission have created to act locally in addressing climate change.
-- Kevin Hagen, Corporate Social Responsibility Program Manager, REI
Lafarge is dedicated to preserving and protecting the environment. Lafarge is already committed to reducing CO2 emissions world wide to combat the threat of climate change. Partnering with the City of Seattle and other founding partners to develop the Seattle Climate Partnership Agreement is therefore a natural fit with our current efforts. We believe by working together the major employers in the Region can help achieve the community-wide goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
-- Tom Crowninshield, Seattle Plant Manager, Lafarge North America
Our company understands the need to work together with the entire community to bring about change. This is especially true as it relates to reducing our community-wide greenhouse gas emissions. We are committed to finding creative solutions in our operations to reduce greenhouse emissions along with working with other businesses to find solutions that make sense. We believe the Seattle Climate Partnership will be an excellent mechanism to help businesses find creative solutions and are excited about working with other founding partners to develop an Agreement.
-- Greg Smith, Principal, Urban Visions
Mithun fully supports this catalytic initiative to expand Seattle’s positive leadership for a better world!
-- Bert Gregory, Principal, Mithun
One of the core values at Shoreline Community College is environmental responsibility. As a critical step toward understanding the effects of fossil fuels on our environment, SCC recently became Washington State 's only National Training Center for Alternative Fuel and Advanced Technology Vehicles, which aligns with our mission to educate students and the community regarding alternative energy resources. We at SCC are proud of our involvement with the Seattle Climate Partnership. As we embrace its ambitious initiatives, we empower our own region and communities to respond to climate change and achieve our community-wide targets for a cleaner, economically viable and more livable region.
-- Lee Lambert, President, Shoreline Community College
