Americans should not frown at the environmental efforts of China given the nation’s own record of achievement as it combats a changing climate, Mayor Dana Williams told a Chinese group on Monday at City Hall.
Speaking to approximately 25 Chinese people in Utah as part of a University of Utah program, the mayor said many Americans say partnerships will be needed between the U.S., China and the Third World to reduce emissions, believed by some to contribute heavily to global warming. Williams said people in the U.S. are wrong to point fingers at Chinese emissions.
“We have no right to be critical until we clean up our own backyard,” Williams told the visitors, who are from the Hainan province in the southern part of China.
The mayor, though, did not speak extensively about national-level talks about climate change and spent much of his time speaking about City Hall’s efforts to reduce emissions locally.
He spoke about cleaner-burning energies that provide some of the power in the Park City area. Williams cited solar energy, power harnessed through wind turbines and geothermal systems, which tap the internal heat of the Earth to provide heat.
Williams, meanwhile, mentioned that City Hall has studied the emissions produced by the day-to-day workings of the municipal government. He said Parkites are “vocal” about global warming.
In his address, Williams also touched on topics like growth, the size of houses in Park City and the local work force housing movement. He spoke through a translator, and the Chinese audience appeared appreciative of his comments.
Williams mentioned the numerous mansions in Park City, saying that the houses are large but they generate jobs. In an acknowledgement of China’s dynastic history, Williams said Park City houses appear to be for royalty.
“They look like they were built for emperors,” Williams said.
But Williams also said there are numerous projects that will not be developed, a reference to City Hall’s longstanding open-space program.
“Growth issues are very important to the people who live here,” Williams said, adding, “It’s not necessarily what’s built, it’s what isn’t.”
The mayor was part of a panel of local speakers who addressed the foreigners, with Park City Chamber/Bureau leader Bill Malone, Deer Valley Resort chief Bob Wheaton and developer Stan Castleton also speaking at the City Council chambers.
Malone spoke about the Chamber/Bureau’s marketing efforts, including an e-mail message sent to 60,000 people after the recent snows, and said the Chamber/Bureau’s foreign marketing centers on the United Kingdom, Germany, Mexico, Brazil and Australia.
Wheaton mentioned that Deer Valley wants to expand its offseason business with more mountain-biking offerings. Castleton spoke about his project, the St. Regis at Deer Crest, which is under construction close to Deer Valley’s Snow Park lodge.
The Chinese are students in a four-week public-administration program at the university. The visit to City Hall was one of their stops in the Park City area on Monday.
In an interview through the translator, Xinyang Sun, a government official from the Hainan province, said he is impressed with the “personal characters” of the Park City mayor. Williams has traveled to China as part of a group from Park City High School. Sun said the mayor is “willing to know the Chinese culture.”
He said Park City is “very clean, very beautiful.” Sun said Park City has been successful as it has developed into a top-tier mountain destination.
“Park City makes a very good balance between economic growth and environmental protection,” Sun said.