Mayors from some 50 cities across Iowa will be in Des Moines this weekend for an Energy Futures Conference.
Des Moines mayor Frank Cownie says municipal governments should serve as role-models when it comes to the use of sustainable power. "Government leads by example," Cownie says. :We can’t ask citizens and businesses to do things that we’re not willing to do ourselves."
Cownie says Des Moines, for example, has captured enough energy from the methane gas at the city’s landfill to power 10,000 homes. The capital city has also has cut back on the use of chemicals in city parks by planting more native grasses and flowers.
Cownie says the conference is also a chance for city leaders to brainstorm ideas about how to address global warming. "It’s all of us working together for a common cause of reducing our reliance on nonrenewable forms of energy, and we think we can make a difference."
The conference begins today and continues tomorrow.