As of last week, Blacksburg is the only town in the commonwealth of Virginia to be named a "Cool City." While locals may feel they have enough snow and chilly winds to spare, and there may be several trendy bars around town, but what makes Blacksburg officially "cool?"
The Blacksburg Town Council recently adopted the Cool Cities Across America campaign in an effort to offset the federal government's lack of action concerning global warming.
Since the early 1990's, the United Nations has been trying to curb the problem of global warming and took the Kyoto Protocol into effect in 2005. The Protocol is an international agreement to reduce greenhouse emissions levels by at least five percent below those during 1990.
Though ratified by 141 countries, the United States rejected the agreement and in response, the Sierra Club established the Cool Cities initiative to persuade local governments across the nation to take action against global warming.
To become a Cool City, local governments sign the U.S. Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement, which is a pledge for cities to comply with the Kyoto Protocol and to develop solution plans to reduce emissions.
"It was very important for us to join (the initiative)," said Mary Holliman, Blacksburg Town councilwoman. "Every scientific study for every generation has shown that global warming is a fact and that it is exacerbated by human activities."
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, comprised of a group of scientists, came out with a report on global warming last Friday.
"The report said it's 'very likely' that it's greater than a 90 percent chance humans are the cause of global warming," said John Chermak, professor of geosciences.
The report is geared towards informing politicians and others who have a limited understanding of global warming and its effects.
Chermak went on to say that "85 percent of the energy we get from the United States is fossil fuels, that is: coal, oil, and natural gas. The key is to try to convert our fossil fuel use to renewable energy sources."
For Blacksburg, this means "thinking globally and acting locally," said Thomas Sherman, Blacksburg Town Councilman.
"In the last eight years, Blacksburg has been working on using energy more efficiently in electrical devices. The lights … have all been changed to fluorescent fixtures (and) LAD lights in traffic signals. The town has modernized the bus fleet so it's much more efficient than it has been and in the future we hope to switch to fuels that are less polluting," he said.
Virginia Tech students have also begun implementing some energy conservation solutions. A group of interior design students plan to join the "Make the Switch Campaign" by replacing 25,000 incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs.
"Even though the initial costs for fluorescent light bulbs are more expensive than incandescent ones, it saves costs and energy in the long run," said Megan Tingley, sophomore environmental policy and planning major.
There is always a little more that everyone can do. From getting a little more exercise by walking instead of driving to going back to employing the Three R's, reduce, reuse and recycle, every student and citizen can help to "cool" every city and hopefully, put an end to global warming.
