SOUNDING OFF:Time to tackle global warming

Global warming is a major concern practically everywhere outside of the White House. Because the Bush administration refuses to act on this matter, mayors across the land began taking matters into their hands around 2002.

Seattle’s mayor, Greg Nickels, started a movement to get cities to adopt the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. The Agreement can be accessed on the City of Seattle’s website.

As of Nov. 15, 330 mayors representing some 53.3 million Americans have signed on and taken the challenge to meet or beat the goals of the Kyoto Protocol of 1997.

In a nutshell, these cities have pledged to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions by 7% from 1990 levels by 2012. Seattle’s city government has recently reported a 60% reduction from 1990 levels. The city’s goal is to become the “most climate-friendly city in the country.”

Going to that city’s website and checking the map of U.S. cities that have adopted the Agreement, I noticed that many California municipalities were on board.

Naturally, I found that many college cities had signed the Agreement: San Francisco, Berkeley, Palo Alto, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

Then I looked to see about Orange County. Of course Irvine has signed on, having some of the world’s premier atmospheric scientists. Business leaders participated along with scientists and concerned citizens in Irvine to secure the city’s adoption of the Agreement.

Irvine’s mayor, Beth Krom, is a member of the non-partisan U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Council on Climate Protection.

Early next year she will meet in Washington, D.C., with the Council on Climate Protection to plan ways of taking local action on the global issue of climate warming. Aliso Viejo and Santa Ana were among the three Orange County cities that have so far adopted the Agreement.

Is it time for Laguna Beach to consider joining the growing list of cities determined to address what national academies of science worldwide regard as one of the most critical challenges of our time?