Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels has been making media headlines from New Zealand to London for weeks now with his Climate Protection Agreement, yet we didn’t read a word about this international news event in The Herald until Tuesday.
Members of the U.S. Conference of Mayors unanimously passed the resolution on Monday. Hooray!
Through other media sources, however, we learned that while 167 mayors across the United States signed onto this courageous agreement months before the conference, including 15 from Washington. Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson was not one of them.
Although President Bush has refused to support the Kyoto Protocol, an agreement calling for the reduction of global warming pollution levels to a modest 7 percent below those of 1990 by 2012, 141 other nations have forged ahead and ratified it. Mayor Nickels’ bold move sends a strong message to D.C. that if it will not act in the best interest of its citizens, then action will be taken at the local level. This kind of grassroots movement is essential to a thriving Democracy.
I applaud Mayor Nickels, as well as the mayors of Lynnwood, Kirkland, Redmond, Edmonds, Bellingham and the other Washington cities who joined the effort early on. Their visionary leadership is hopeful and inspiring.
Everett must take initiative and help spearhead this movement toward a saner and more sustainable future. We live in one of the most beautiful places on Earth – let’s be proactive in keeping it that way by aggressively pursuing strategies for sustainable growth, alternative energy and green building. Climate change is happening and cities that acknowledge this in their urban planning will be thanked by future generations.
Clara Lindstrom
Everett
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