Kyoto commitment from US cities

Mayors across US adopt reduction targets for greenhouse gas emissions In sharp contrast to the Bush administration’s rejection of the Kyoto treaty on climate change, US mayors are pledging to meet international climate targets unilaterally within their own communities.

By mid-May, 141 city leaders representing more than 30 million Americans had followed the lead set by Seattle mayor Greg Nickels in pledging to cut emissions within their communities by 7% from 1990 levels by 2012. Among them are several Republican mayors including Michael Bloomberg of New York City.

Nickels launched the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement earlier this year after the Kyoto Protocol came into force. Among the first 10 to join the coalition were the mayors of Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Portland, Minneapolis, Oakland and Boulder, Colorado. Suggested municipal measures posted on the Seattle government’s website range from anti-sprawl land-use policies to public information campaigns designed to encourage greater energy efficiency. Seattle’s actions to date include requiring docked cruise ships to turn off their diesel engines while re-supplying, while Salt Lake City has become Utah’s largest buyer of wind power in order to meet its self-imposed CO2 reduction target. “The stakes are high - locally and globally - and we need to act,” says Nickels. “We’re trying to do two things with the climate change agreement. The first is to generate local strategies for reducing greenhouse emissions. The second is to show support for these issues at the local level so that national leaders have the political support they need to do their part.” Many of the cities taking part are in coastal areas whose residents fear climate change will bring more floods and hurricanes. “The rise of the Earth’s temperature, causing sea level increases that could add up to one foot over the next 30 years, threatens the very existence of New Orleans,” warns New Orleans mayor C. Ray Nagin. - Polly Ghazi

17 June 2005

Polly Ghazi