Smells Like Progress

As climate summit continues, fed-up mayors unveil actual plans

They cover 1 percent of the Earth's surface, but the world's cities spew 80 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions -- and 180 percent of climate-action plans. "Where national governments can't or won't lead, cities will," said Toronto Mayor David Miller at the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit in New York City. Yesterday, Miller unveiled an online social-networking carbon calculator called Zerofootprint Toronto that will, he says, "help make my city not only one of the greenest on the planet, but one of the most innovative as well." He's not alone: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) plans to green his notoriously smoggy city, pledging to cut carbon 35 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, and 16 world cities will eco-renovate city-owned skyscrapers under a $1 billion partnership led by former President Clinton's Climate Initiative. The award for most diplomatic slam goes to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R), who noted that federal governments in the U.S. and elsewhere "seem to be tied up."