Sundance Summit Takes Aim at Coal

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) Converting to compact fluorescent lights and natural-gas-powered cars is so last year. Mayors who met at Robert Redford's 3rd Annual Sundance Summit this week had a much bigger environmental switch in mind:

"We could do everything else with lighting, fleets, transportation systems - everything else, and we're still in a disastrous situation if we continue to rely on coal-burning power plants," says Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson. "There should not be one more coal-buring plant built."

Anderson co-hosted the Sundance Summit this week, which featured several days of panels and speeches geared at how city mayors can tackle global warming. Anderson says discussion at this year's summit centered on how local leaders can influence the entire country's dependence on coal for energy:

"We do have the technologies and options and we're seeing a lot of positive things being done in cities and states," says Anderson. "Now it's crucial the federal government find the responsibility to take the measures that need to be taken on a national and international level."

Sixty mayors attended this year's Sundance Summit, though Mayor Rocky Anderson and Park City Mayor Dana Williams were the only ones from Utah.

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