City commits to big cut in greenhouse gas emissions

Calling global warming a "planetary emergency," elected officials and a mayoral commission today presented a series of recommendations for curtailing Seattle's greenhouse gas emissions.

NOTE: This article has been updated since it was originally published in the newspaper.

Mayor Greg Nickels and the city were praised for leading the nation on the issue and urged to continue in their fight against planet-warming pollution in a packed event at Seattle's City Hall.


		Paul Joseph Brown / P-I
	Bicyclists mingle with cars on Dexter Avenue North during morning rush hour. Seattle's plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions includes building more bicycle lanes.

"The United States of America has really messed up on this," said former Vice President Al Gore, the event's featured speaker. "But let me tell you about Seattle."

Over the past year, Nickels has led a campaign to get U.S. cities to pledge to meet or beat the goals set in the international Kyoto Protocol, an agreement rejected by the Bush administration that strives to cut global-warming emissions.

By Friday, 219 cities had joined the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, which strives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.

Critics have questioned how much of a difference individual cities can make, but the cities signed on to the agreement include 44 million people -- and Americans are among the top greenhouse gas producers per capita.

If the enlisted cities meet the Kyoto goal, that would match reductions by the United Kingdom, Holland and the Scandinavian countries combined, said Denis Hayes, co-chair of the mayor's Green Ribbon Commission on Climate Protection, which released the plan.

"This is an incredibly important step forward," said Hayes, who is also president of the Bullitt Foundation and co-founder of Earth Day.

Concerns about the local effects of a warmer world -- less snowpack in the mountains, droughts and higher sea levels, to name a few -- helped inspire the effort.

The plan focuses on curbing emissions from cars, trucks, SUVs and buses -- Seattle's leading source of greenhouse gases. Globally, gases come primarily from burning fossil fuels such as gasoline, coal, natural gas, diesel and oil.

The proposed solutions are multi-faceted in their approach and include increasing bus service, building more bike lanes and parking spaces, and discouraging driving by imposing tolls and higher parking lot taxes. There are recommended zoning changes that would encourage the creation of pedestrian-friendly communities where stores, jobs and homes are close together.

While some of the ideas could cost consumers, residents and businesses, the supporters of the plan note that the strategies aren't only about sacrifice. Some of the changes could benefit communities by cutting down on the overall pollution levels. They can boost the economy through the development of new and widely desirable technologies. Businesses and homeowners could cut costs in the long-run by becoming more energy efficient.

"This is an exciting time," said Yalonda Sinde, executive director of the non-profit Community Coalition for Environmental Justice and member of the commission. "I feel very positive we can do it."

The recommendations will be aired publicly at upcoming meetings around the city. The mayor is slated to come up with a final plan -- dubbed Seattle's Climate Action Plan -- in September. It will include funding sources and price tags for reaching the goals, which were not addressed in the recommendations.

But even as the city was basking in the glow of the proposal and successful recruitment of cities nationwide, some at the event already were asking for more.

"Kyoto, my friends, is not big enough," said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club. "We need a bigger dream, we need a higher bar ..."

"Seattle, lead again."

TO LEARN MORE

Mayor Nickels' global warming program and recommendations from the commission: www.seattle.gov/climate

Seattle greenhouse gases by the numbers: goto.seattlepi.com/r109

Steps individuals are taking to curb emissions in this P-I story: goto.seattlepi.com/263398

P-I reporter Lisa Stiffler can be reached at 206-448-8042 or lisastiffler@seattlepi.com. See the P-I's environment blog at www.datelineearth.com

Soundoff (Read 36 comments)
Are Seattle residents and businesses on board for making changes needed to meet the Kyoto goals, and will it have any meaningful impact in the global warming arena?

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