Politics | climate change Clinton, Bloomberg Fight Climate Change Former prez, NYC mayor join forces By Evann Gastaldo Posted May 29, 2011 4:28 PM CDT Copied Mayor Michael Bloomberg, left, shakes hands with former President Bill Clinton at the annual Federal Law Enforcement Foundation Luncheon in New York, in this, Oct. 27, 2005 file photo. (AP Photo/NYC Mayors Office, Kimberlee Hewitt, File) Combine Bill Clinton’s network and influence with Michael Bloomberg’s billions of dollars and what do you get? A potent combination for dealing with climate change, the two men hope. The former president and New York mayor recently merged their climate-change initiatives, and will share the stage for the first time as partners this week at a conference in Brazil, the New York Times reports. Climate change is “one of the two or three biggest challenges in the world,” Clinton says. “But if we can prove that this is good economics, good public health, and fights the most calamitous consequences of climate change, then we will have done a world of good.” Clinton started his efforts six years ago with officials from 40 of the largest cities in the world, but the group, known as C40, was underfunded. Bloomberg came in last year pledging $6 million a year, and won himself the chairmanship. (Clinton is predictably gracious about the move; one of his advisers, however, anonymously implies Bloomberg muscled his way in.) Unlike Al Gore, who focuses on grass-roots activism and increased awareness of climate change, Clinton and Bloomberg are focusing on specific projects in cities, like retrofitting buildings and switching to energy-efficient streetlights. Read These Next White House rolls with Trump's 'daddy' nickname. New Fox star, 23, misses first day after car troubles. Supreme Court ruling is a big blow to Planned Parenthood. Man accused of killing his daughters might be dead. Report an error