[Mpls] Our Mayor signed us up!

Thu Feb 24 12:12:30 CST 2005

Profuse congratulations and thanks to Mayor Rybak!!  As I have said a
hundred times, cities can lead and must lead when state and federal
governments refuse to do what must be done! =20

Jim Bernstein
Fulton

-----Original Message-----
From: mpls-bounces at mnforum.org [mailto:mpls-bounces at mnforum.org] On
Behalf Of Annie Young
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2005 3:50 PM
To: mpls at mnforum.org
Subject: [Mpls] Our Mayor signed us up!

Please note that Mayor Rybak has signed on to this initiative.  Wonder
what=20
it means for al of us - what initiatives will evolve for us to do.
Annie Young
East Phillips

Published on Tuesday, February 22, 2005 by the Los Angeles Times
Mayor Is on a Mission to Warm U.S. Cities to the Kyoto Protocol
by Tomas Alex Tizon
SEATTLE =97 One day last month in this normally sun-starved corner of =
the=20
country, when the temperature reached into the low 60s, residents donned

shorts and acted as if summer had come early.

That bothered Mayor Greg Nickels =97 not the shorts, but the warm =
weather.

The temperature hit the 60s again this month, and with mountain
snowpacks=20
alarmingly low and scientists already predicting drought this summer,=20
Nickels said he feared "the profound changes" associated with global=20
warming had reached home.

Last week, on the day the Kyoto Protocol went into effect, Nickels=20
announced he would lead a campaign to get U.S. cities to adopt its
terms,=20
beginning with Seattle. He said his goal was to recruit 140 cities to
match=20
the 140 countries that signed the treaty. The mayors of 10 cities,=20
including Los Angeles; Santa Monica; Portland, Ore.; Minneapolis; and=20
Oakland, have signed on.

The Kyoto Protocol, the first major international effort to reduce the=20
industrial emissions that many scientists believe are creating a warmer=20
climate, went into effect without the support of the world's biggest=20
polluter. The United States, which produces about one-fourth of the
world's=20
heat-trapping exhaust, initially signed the treaty in 1997 but withdrew
in=20
2001.

 "I'm deeply disappointed that the U.S. is not part of the treaty," said

Nickels, a Democrat. But, he said, he did not see his campaign as a=20
partisan effort by Democrats to thumb their noses at the Republican Bush

administration.

"We want to show that a city =97 and I hope it turns out to be many =
cities
=97=20
can act to meet the intent and spirit of the Kyoto Protocol," Nickels
said.=20
The goal would be to "inspire our federal government to take the action
it=20
should have done years ago."

Sarah Jaynes, a Seattle resident and board member of the nonpartisan
King=20
County Conservation Voters =97 which works to elect "environmentally=20
responsible candidates" to office =97 said she believed Nickels was
genuinely=20
concerned about global warming but also was being an astute politician.

Nickels, a first-term mayor, is running for reelection later this year.

"Seattle voters are extraordinarily concerned about environmental=20
protection, and Mayor Nickels wants to demonstrate a strong
environmental=20
ethic," Jaynes said. "This is one way he can do it. As a politician, it
can=20
only help him."

Nickels said he planned to introduce a resolution at the U.S. Conference
of=20
Mayors in June to set up the coalition, which had been dubbed "the Green

Team." The details still are being worked out but, in essence, cities=20
wanting to join the team must agree to concrete steps that would lower=20
so-called greenhouse gas emissions.

"We can't wait for this vacuum of leadership to fill," said Peter
Clavelle,=20
the mayor of Burlington, Vt., who has joined Nickels' Green Team.

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson said it was imperative that cities
take=20
the lead on the issue, and he hoped county and state governments would=20
follow suit. The world must "reverse the trend toward global warming,"=20
Anderson said. "If we do not, the consequences will be devastating."

Seattle adopted the Kyoto Protocol four years ago.

Now that it's in effect, Nickels said he would work to pass a
"clean-car"=20
bill that would require more stringent emission standards for cars sold
in=20
Washington, similar to a law adopted in California. He directed city=20
departments to reduce paper use 30% by 2006, and said sound
environmental=20
policies would be a consideration in deciding which neighborhood
programs=20
to fund.

Nickels said he was worried about the warm temperatures and relatively
dry=20
weather throughout the Pacific Northwest this winter.

In a typical February, Seattle would get more than 4 inches of rainfall.
So=20
far, there has been less than an inch, a continuation of a
drier-than-usual=20
January.

Most ski resorts in Washington and Idaho have remained closed because of
a=20
lack of snow. On Jan. 20, nearly 80 record-high temperatures were set in

mountains throughout Washington, Idaho and Oregon.

Of most concern to Nickels is the snowpack in the Cascade Mountains,
which=20
provides water for Seattle and most of western Washington.
Meteorologists=20
say the snowpack is less than one-third of its usual mass this time of=20
year, and is lower than it's been in nearly three decades.

Nickels said it was still possible that heavy snow in the next two
months=20
could make up the shortfall.

But according to the National Weather Service's long-term forecast for
the=20
Northwest, February, March and April will see mostly above-average=20
temperatures and below-average rain and snow.

Copyright 2005 Los Angeles Times

 ###

REMINDERS:
1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at
http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation,
contact the list manager at mplslist at tcq.net before continuing it on the
list.

2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait.

For state and national discussions see:
http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html
For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract
________________________________

Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn
E-Democracy
Post messages to: mailto:mpls at mnforum.org
Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls

--=20
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 266.4.0 - Release Date: 2/22/2005
=20

--=20
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 266.4.0 - Release Date: 2/22/2005
=20