A support group and a lab in the St. Louis area provide resources for people with the allergy to mammal products — and evidence that its effects can be reversed.
Mayors make climate connections in Azerbaijan at COP29, as cities look to improve disaster relief with new insurance policies
Blytheville, AR, Mayor Melisa Logan speaks at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Logan is part of a delegation from the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative attending the global climate conference. Image courtesy of MRCTI.
First, an introduction is in order: I'm Michael Crowe, and I'll be taking over the newsletter for a few months. I'm a longtime journalist on the climate and environment beat, and grew up on the Mississippi River in Davenport, Iowa. I'm based in Seattle now and look forward to sharing this space with you.
This week, we’ve got a special feature from the Ag & Water Desk exclusive to the newsletter. As world leaders gather in Baku, Azerbaijan for the United Nations climate summit, COP29, mayors from the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative (MRCTI) made the journey to share their perspectives and foster global connections.
They've been discussing climate and ecological initiatives aimed at securing U.S. trade, protecting food-producing river basins, and cementing the work of mayors as a global example of 'transformational adaptation,' per MRCTI.
Mayors Melisa Logan of Blytheville, Arkansas, and Hollies Winston of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, spoke with Desk reporter Elise Plunk of Louisiana Illuminator via video chat Friday. The following Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.
Desk: What are some impressions from the trip and ideas you can bring back to your cities to implement?
Mayor Melisa Logan: Here at COP29, they thought the overarching theme would be finance, but actually it's continuity of climate action. One of the sayings throughout the COP has been ‘from ambition to action,’ which means that we're going to move from just talking about it, to boots-on-the-ground and multi-level action on all levels of government. Change is going to happen whether we participate in it or not.
There are 105 mayors in the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative, and these 105 mayors are all experiencing climate change. In my area of the country, the Mississippi River has been at its lowest point. We've experienced drought for three years. I'm here to advocate for that most precious commodity that we all share, which is water.
Mayor Hollies Winston: MRCTI is very unique in that they're making the case for the Mississippi. When you meet a mayor in the Amazon Basin of Brazil, you realize the amount of commerce that they deal with, and how important it is not only to that region, to the Amazon and to Brazil, but the entire world. Well, that's not so different than what we're dealing with in the Mississippi, because the Mississippi is also this iconic river, and when it struggles, there are effects across the world. A big thing I'm taking away from this is how do we finance climate solutions so that people at the local level can have a voice, and they can have a say in terms of what some of these solutions look like.
Blytheville, AR, Mayor Melisa Logan and Brooklyn Park, MN, Mayor Hollies Winston in Baku, Azerbaijan at COP29. Image courtesy of MRCTI.
Desk: Specifically, why is it important, and what does it mean to represent your cities and MRCTI at this global conference?
Logan: We just came out of a very heightened political season, and a winner has been declared, and we're soon to go on to the new presidency. We know that billions of dollars were deployed during the Biden administration with the Inflation Reduction Act. And so the world wants to know, how are we going to handle the new climate? Well, our answer through MRCTI been very consistent: We're going to continue to deploy the natural resources, we're going to continue to protect our natural infrastructure, and we're going to continue to do the work.
Winston: For my city of Brooklyn Park, I think it's important that they understand they're connected to something much bigger, and that they have an important role to play when it comes to climate change. But it also is important that they understand the economic outcomes that could occur if we could go in the wrong direction. From both the national and international perspective, it's important for people to realize that this work is going to continue and not simply for altruistic reasons.
Logan: We’ve been from Paris to Dubai over the last few COPs, and we have advocated on the global stage for our Mississippi River corridor at six United Nations climate meetings. That's a lot of exposure that would not have happened had MRCTI not been engaged. What that means for the Mississippi, is we're able to tell our story.
Winston: The story of the Mississippi is important to our country and our world. That story has helped get mayors on board, and that's not easy. You know, mayors are just like herding cats, right? But I think that story is incredibly compelling, and it started not from the top down, but it started from the bottom up. It's a model that we can roll out to others. At a local level, helping people understand what's going on, and then building up to this leadership with mayors, that can really move the ball in a way that maybe we haven't seen with other organizations.
(Disclosure: both the Desk and MRCTI receive funding from the Walton Family Foundation.)
Thanks for reading! We'll see you next week with more reporting from across the Mississippi River Basin.
Sincerely,
Michael Crowe Contributing Editor, Ag & Water Desk
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As the mayors above mention, the health of the river is a global issue, with billions of dollars on the line. The Desk helps bring that context to stories on the Mississippi River Basin, featuring local officials on the global stage.
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River communities have suffered repeated losses. But federal disaster funding can take weeks, months or even years to pay out. Traditional insurance programs are tied to property and require proof of loss for a payout, which can be burdensome and lengthy to assemble. Now, cities are testing a new type of policy.
By Delaney Dryfoos, The Lens, and Eric Schmid, St. Louis Public Radio
Workers shore up a temporary levee across Main Street in Grafton, IL on May 29, 2019. The Mississippi River reached its second-highest crest ever at 35.17 feet nine days later. Credit: Brent Jones / St. Louis Public Radio
