Blue Skies, Green Cities

Blue Skies, Green Cities: "WASHINGTON - Ignoring inaction at the highest levels of the U.S. government, 145 mayors across the country have formed a coalition to combat global warming and begun to reshape their cities using innovative programs and technologies.

The mayors say they can make urban living more eco-friendly and at the same time create jobs and stimulate local economies.

The Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty calling for reductions in the greenhouse gases that accelerate climate change, took effect in February. But the United States, which makes up four percent of the world's population and produces 22 percent of the world's greenhouse gases, did not ratify the treaty.

The George W. Bush administration opposes Kyoto because officials argue it would raise energy prices and kill five million U.S. jobs. The administration has also raised questions about the scientific legitimacy of climate change.

The House of Representatives and Senate have also done little to stop the Earth from heating up, the mayors say.

Tired of waiting for action from federal authorities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, as the coalition is called, unanimously agreed last month to implement aspects of the protocol locally.

A total of 169 U.S. cities have now agreed to match or better the standards laid out in the Kyoto Protocol -- which requires industrialized nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by an average of six percent below 1990 levels by the year 2012 -- through actions such as restoring forests, reducing urban sprawl, developing alternative energy technologies, and educating the public. "