Lately I’ve noticed we’ve been facing some pretty grim statistics: one in four New Yorkers has elevated levels of Mercury, one in four Ohio bridges were found structurally insufficient, and one in four Americans don’t know heart attack warning signs.

But I’ve got a better one:

One in four Americans lives in a city that has made a commitment to reduce climate pollution. 

The US Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement was started here in Seattle by Mayor Nickels as a response to the failure of the federal government to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.  It states that a signing city will reduce its CO2 emissions to 7% below 1990 levels by the year 2012, just like the Kyoto Protocol. Over 800 cities have signed the agreement, representing over 78 million Americans. And city governments are doing a great job--green taxi fleets, light rail, bicycle-friendly planning, green buildings, alternative energy sources, green jobs, and smarter land use planning are the tools cities are using to reach their goals.

Here in Seattle, we’ve been leading the charge on how cities can reduce climate pollution; we’re using all the tools listed above and then some.  Currently, we’re beating our Kyoto goals with an 8% reduction in carbon emissions below 1990 levels!  While we’ve achieved a major milestone, we’ve still got a mountain to climb.

By changing your light bulbs to CFLs, jumping on the bus instead of your car, or simply properly inflating your tires and reducing idling, you can make a difference too.  Small actions, taken collectively, really do add up!

Cheers!

Rachel Smith

Seattle Climate Action Now

www.seattlecan.org