Gallego takes reins of national mayors’ climate group, secures $15M for EV charging ports
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego will be the next chair of Climate Mayors, a community of nearly 350 mayors who have organized to help each other lead city responses to climate change across the nation.
The appointment was announced Monday afternoon by Kate Wright, executive director of Climate Mayors, and outgoing chair Mayor Justin Bibb of Cleveland, Ohio. Gallego has been a member of the group since taking office in 2019 and has previously served as a vice-chair.
Two new vice-chairs, Mayor Lauren McLean of Boise, Idaho, and Mayor Andre Dickens of Atlanta, Georgia, have also joined the 2025 leadership team. Arizona is represented in the organization by five other mayors: Becky Daggett of Flagstaff, Scott Jablow of Sedona, Corey Woods of Tempe, Regina Romero of Tucson and Jorge Maldonado of Nogales.
Climate Mayors, which formed in 2014 and now represents 46 states with bipartisan leadership, aims to support the “economic, health and resiliency benefits to communities” by helping cities maintain momentum on climate action despite nationwide setbacks or delays. The approach aligns with what legal scholars have previously told The Arizona Republic about cities and states often achieving more success on emissions reduction goals, due to greater flexibility in local rules and regulations, compared with countries that repeatedly fall short of national benchmarks and international agreements.
Gallego’s leadership in the group could result in Phoenix securing more federal funding to advance local climate initiatives, as well as a greater national focus on regional climate impacts like extreme heat and water shortages. During a call with reporters Monday, Bibb discussed how his involvement as chair seemed to benefit Cleveland. Both Bibb and Gallego welcomed news on Monday of new federal electrification funding for their cities.
The new role could also invite increased scrutiny and elevated standards for Gallego’s climate progress in her own city.
Phoenix as a national representative of climate action
In remarks after the announcement Monday, Gallego said that as chair she hopes to help the Climate Mayors group “expand our membership to all 50 states so that we can have full U.S. representation.”
She also spoke about her climate goals for Phoenix and beyond. Since the United States is a top emitter of greenhouse gases, she said, the country should lead on climate action from its cities in ways that advance global progress while helping to ensure local communities thrive.
“As chair, my priorities include supporting and defending federal funding for local climate action in the United States and for making sure that we deliver on the international stage,” Gallego said. “We are going to try to advance solutions to help people reduce their energy use, be more prosperous, resilient, have more affordable energy and water bills and advance sustainable economic development.”
Gallego shared a desire for Phoenix to “go beyond greenhouse gas reductions and continue to look at climate action, economic growth and improved public health.” She called for regional collaboration on climate-related issues “around Western water security, extreme heat, climate and public safety and climate and affordability and prosperity.”
Her track record locally on these issues has been mixed. In October, The Republic reported that Phoenix’s progress on greenhouse gas emissions reduction since 2021 fell notably short of per capita improvements in cities like New York over that time, as calculated by C40 Cities, another organization of climate mayors.
And in a December interview, The Republic pressed Gallego on how inviting multiple energy-intensive data centers and chip manufacturing facilities into Phoenix, in the name of economic progress, aligns with her sustainability goals. She indicated that she anticipates energy efficiency gains facilitated by these companies’ products eventually paying climate dividends.
Phoenix has seen new solar projects, a new water reuse facility, a modest expansion of electrified public transit options and improvements in energy efficiency under Gallego’s leadership. She helped craft the city’s first Climate Action Plan and has outlined ambitious goals to reach net zero in municipal operations by 2030, toward achieving a clean energy economy by 2050.
But a lack of emissions data from many local entities obscures measurement of results, and a culture of personal vehicle use means the city’s transportation emissions remain high. Some local activists point to minimal tree cover expansion, sprawling development that intensifies extreme urban temperatures and consistently high heat deaths in Phoenix as evidence the mayor has not done enough, calling for fewer plans and more measurable progress.
Others recognize the incremental wins in a state without many climate leaders in office. A recent review by The Republic of environmental legislation introduced in the Arizona Senate and House over the past two years found that only one pro-environment bill made it through the process into law.
A ‘seat at the federal table’ might have landed Phoenix $15 million
In response to a request from The Republic Monday to elaborate on how her new national climate role will benefit her Phoenix-based constituents, Gallego shared a story about how being a part of the Climate Mayors network helped her respond to a recent, less-familiar climate disaster.
“When Phoenix had a flooding emergency, I leaned in and talked to other mayors who helped me navigate that,” Gallego said. “As a desert city flooding isn’t something we deal with all the time, but we know mayors will have new challenges as weather patterns shift and we see more extreme events.”
Through Climate Mayors, Gallego has offered advice to city leaders less versed in dealing with the impacts of heat and drought and “learned from what Houston had done on massive citywide planting of trees,” she said.
“I feel like cities are really willing to share with each other what’s working and what’s not,” Gallego told The Republic. “So it helps me deliver more effectively the grant that the city of Phoenix and the city of Cleveland both got today.”
She added that her involvement with Climate Mayors led to her first meeting with the federal government and credited those ongoing communications with helping her “bring more funding home to deliver for the people of Phoenix.”