Despite Federal Resistance, Cities Continue To Embrace Kyoto Goals

[hatrack]

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Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels launched the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement initiative last year and Rayson and more than 300 other mayors have followed his lead, promising to strive to meet Kyoto targets in their own communities. “I think it's a common interest that we have that rises above politics,” Nickels said. “This really has to do with the survival of our world.”

Nickels started the mayors' effort after Kyoto took affect without U.S. participation. At the same time, he said he was experiencing climate change first hand, as Seattle was tracking decreased snow mass in the mountains, a concern because the melted snow contributes to the city's water and power supplies. “I decided to challenge my community and at the same time challenge other mayors,” he said. “I knew it would resonate in Seattle. What I didn't expect was that in many other parts of the country people are experiencing these things too.”

The response has been staggering. Efforts are being undertaken by mayors of cities in 46 states, representing more than 50 million Americans. There are big cities like New York and small ones like Easton, Conn.; liberal ones like San Francisco and conservative ones like Hurst, Texas, launching all sorts of programs aimed at meeting the Kyoto standards.

Lincoln, Neb., is now running its public buses on biodiesel, has begun operating wind turbines at its electric utility and has established miles of bike and pedestrian trails. Lexington, Ky., has replaced incandescent traffic signal bulbs with more energy-efficient LED ones, added hybrid cars to its municipal fleet and began picking up trash just once a week to trim vehicle emissions. And in Salt Lake City, stricter guidelines aimed at making public buildings green have been passed, wind energy is being more widely used and the amount of greenhouse gas emissions has been cut to 106 percent below 2001 levels.

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http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20061020-1017-globalwarmingbusiness-cities.html

[rodeodance]

1. the Fed should be ashamed of itself.

[eppur_se_muova]

2. The people are leading, the leaders refuse to ...

lead, follow, or get out of the way.