When Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin met with former Prime Minister of Ireland and E.U. Ambassador John Bruton on St. Patrick’s Day, Atlanta’s “green,” environmentally sustainable initiatives were his main concern.

“He spent 45 minutes asking me how Atlanta and the U.S. were going to get involved with climate control, work against sprawl and get more transit systems in place,” Ms. Franklin recounted to some 500 businesspeople who gathered for a March 21 dinner at the Georgia Freight Depot.  The dinner kicked-off a two-day conference on how to construct energy efficient buildings that was organized by local environmental advocacy group Southface.

Ms. Franklin’s answer to Mr. Bruton, who represents 25 European countries that are becoming increasingly proactive in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, was similar to what she told the crowd Wednesday night.

“The [Atlanta] environment will be better than when we found it by a lot,” Ms. Franklin said, alluding to a number of environmentally sustainable programs she plans to unveil next month that will help Atlanta reduce its carbon dioxide and methane emissions, which are considered major contributors to global warming.

The effort is a part of a 100-year plan Ms. Franklin has in place for Atlanta’s development that includes significant citywide reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, according to Catherine Woodling, media relations officer at the mayor’s office.

The anticipated programs are expected to include installing energy-saving traffic and street lights, using renewable energy sources for municipal buildings, expanding recycling options for city residents and getting city automobiles that run on alternative fuels.

The city is also opening an Environmental Affairs Department to manage the effort, Ms. Woodling said.  It will be headed up by Susan McCray, the city’s current environmental affairs manager, and will receive input from Atlanta’s GreenTeam, a group of city department and development officials that is charged with addressing and promoting environmental issues.

Constructing energy efficient buildings, like what Southface encouraged last week, has been on city books since 2003, and a number of new municipal constructions are being built according to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, standards.  LEED provides a nationally recognized list of standards for environmentally sustainable construction.

New energy efficient municipal buildings in the works include a one affiliated with the Department of Watershed Management, four fire stations and a public safety annex that will house the headquarters for the city’s fire and police departments.

Atlanta joins a host of other cities around the world that are building energy efficient constructions and implementing other energy-saving initiatives to become environmentally sustainable.

Earlier this month, the city joined the Climate Protection campaign that unites more than 650 member cities around the world in an agreement to work toward reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. 

Atlanta is also a member of the U.S. Conference for Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement that is working to reduce non-renewable energy consumption and waste at a municipal level.  More than 370 cities from 50 states are members.

Ms. Franklin is scheduled to announce her new initiatives during an Arms Around Atlanta Earth Day celebration held at Grant Park on Saturday, April 21.  For more information, on Atlanta’s Earth Day celebrations, visit http://www.atlantaga.gov/client_resources/mayorsoffice/green%20initiative/onesheet.2.pdf

Founded in the 1970s, Southface promotes sustainable homes, workplaces and communities through education, research, advocacy and technical assistance.  After teaming up with the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association in 1998, the organization helped develop blueprints for energy efficient residential construction.