I like
this story:
Unsettled by a series of dry winters in this normally wet city, Mayor Greg Nickels has begun a nationwide effort to do something the Bush administration will not: carry out the Kyoto Protocol on global warming.
Mr. Nickels, a Democrat, says 131 other likeminded mayors have joined a bipartisan coalition to fight global warming on the local level, in an implicit rejection of the administration's policy.
The mayors, from cities as liberal as Los Angeles and as conservative as Hurst, Tex., represent nearly 29 million citizens in 35 states, according to Mayor Nickels's office. They are pledging to have their cities meet what would have been a binding requirement for the nation had the Bush administration not rejected the Kyoto Protocol: a reduction in heat-trapping gas emissions to levels 7 percent below those of 1990, by 2012.
I like it for a whole bunch of reasons. First, this is a good, concrete step toward actually helping the environment (even if it is a small one). Second, the bipartisan nature of this group is a great rebuff to the radical right-wing/Bushista fantasy that global warming has been dreamed up by a conspiracy of patient nerds. And third, I see no apparent reason why enterprising governors (or aspiring governors) could not sign on as well. I think this could be a great move for a guy like Eliot Spitzer, who has successfully brought a number of important environmental lawsuits.
Finally, I like this bit best:
Jerry Ryan, the Republican mayor of Bellevue, Neb., said he had signed on because of concerns about the effects of droughts on his farming community. Mr. Ryan described himself as a strong Bush supporter, but said he felt that the president's approach to global warming should be more like his approach to terrorism.
"You've got to ask, 'Is it remotely possible that there is a threat?'" he said. "If the answer is yes, you've got to act now."
Indeed, an approach similar to Ryan's is already advocated in environmental quarters, where it is known as the "precautionary principle." I also think it's a good way to sell the public on environmental protections in general: Life is risky enough - why should we take any chances with our environment?
P.S. If you want to find out more about the coalition, their homepage is here.