With little progress on an international climate change agreement, state and municipal governments worldwide are coming together to address the issue.
Governor Andrew Cuomo recently signed the "Under 2 MOU," which has been endorsed by 43 jurisdictions around the world including the Province of Ontario. Cuomo's stated goal is to have New York "lead the nation on climate change."
The governor is pledging to reduce the state's greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent by 2030. His plan includes bringing solar to 150,000 homes and businesses statewide, and installing clean renewable energy at every SUNY campus within five years.
"I support the governor's proposal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across New York State," said Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown.
Brown says government should be doing all it can to protect the environment. He says the city has been working with state power authority on a number of things to reduce the city's energy consumption and energy costs.
"These are issues that we've been working on as a municipality. The City of Buffalo is proud of the work
that we've been doing but we're going to continue to be very diligent and very aggressive in our work to reduce our carbon footprint."
Brown points out the new Solar City plant in South Buffalo will be a major manufacturer of solar panels, which he says will further help cut green gas emissions.