The environment is something we all need to take heed of. Unfortunately the Bush Administration has done nothing but hurt us while helping the energy industry to become even more flush with cash. Well Americans aren't taking it laying down. In fact many localities are doing what they can to make a positive impact in their regions despite negative perceptions worldwide and an uphill battle against the White House.
From The Washington Post:
A nationwide poll released in April showed a third of Americans now call global warming the world's single largest environmental problem -- double the number a year ago, according a Washington Post-ABC News-Stanford University survey. Though the administration agreed this week to "seriously consider" a European proposal to slash emissions 50 percent by 2050, the United States rebuffed efforts to make the cuts mandatory."Because of what many see as a policy failure on this issue in Washington, you see state and city governments stepping up and taking the lead on global warming," said Daniel C. Esty, director of the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy. "You've got people in Europe saying that America is doing nothing on global warming, but that's not true. You are seeing real action. But it's happening in a local way."
What started in 2005 with the frustrations of one mayor -- Seattle's Greg Nickels -- over the Bush administration's resistance to the Kyoto Protocol has since grown to become a major nationwide movement. Nickel's "U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement" now includes 522 mayors representing 65 million Americans who have pledged to meet the Kyoto Protocol's standard of cutting greenhouse gas emissions 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.
Officials are still attempting to assess the overall impact of the combined effort of local governments. But they say those measures -- along with mild weather and other factors -- significantly contributed to the 1.3 percent drop in U.S. fossil-fuel related emissions to 5.88 billion metric tons last year.
America is trying to do its best on a local level despite the fight from the Feds. Many cities across the nation have instituted policies and procedures that are making a difference. Portland, N.H. generates hydroelectricity from its drinking water, New York has PlaNYC in place to cut emissions by 30 percent by 2030 and even in Boulder, CO there is the nation's first carbon tax to fund clean energy alternatives.
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