More than 100 U.S. cities and 400 around the world have responded
to the Bush Administration’s abandonment of the Kyoto treaty on
global warming by trying to meet the treaty’s goals via local
initiatives, notes Yes! (Fall 2001). In Seattle, for instance,
local officials have committed the city’s public utility to meeting
all new power demand without increasing greenhouse gas emissions.
The utility, City Light, relies on energy efficiency and wind power
as much as possible, and when it needs to increase its use of
fossil fuels, it offsets the resulting greenhouse gas emissions
with incentives for reducing auto use.
