Ethics Newsline®

SEATTLE
Saying a better example needs to be set, 141 of the nation’s mayors have agreed to meet the demands of the Kyoto treaty on global warming, urging the Bush administration to change course and follow suit.

The mayors say they will adhere to Kyoto’s call — reducing carbon dioxide emissions to 7 percent below 1990 levels within seven years — due to the threats that global warming poses to their citizens, environment, and economies.

The Kyoto protocol, rejected by the Bush administration as flawed, took effect last February after Russia tipped the balance back in its favor, saying it would sign on to the deal, which aims to halt the potentially catastrophic effects of global warming by requiring developed nations to cut their emissions.

The United States is the world’s largest producer of such emissions — a fact that compelled Seattle Mayor Greg Nickles to say he would not sit on the sidelines as global warming threatened to dry up needed rains and nearby glaciers that provide Seattle’s drinking water.

Nickles said he would answer Kyoto’s challenge and asked other mayors to do the same. Last week, he said 141 mayors from both political parties have joined the effort, representing more than 30 million people in 35 states, reported the Associated Press.

Participating cities include Los Angeles, New York City, Salt Lake City, and New Orleans, which have adopted tactics that include buying wind power and switching municipal auto fleets to hybrid technology, reported the New York Times.

While the joint action may have some small environmental effects, its value also lies in its symbolic challenge to the federal government’s approach to climate change, Nathan Mantua, assistant director of the Center for Science in the Earth System at the University of Washington, told the Times.

“It is clearly a politically significant step in the right direction,” Dr. Mantua said.