NJ's Swamplands Pledge to Meet Kyoto CO2 Targets
Date: 11-Jul-06
Country: US
Author: Timothy Gardner
The Meadowlands, a region of swamps near New York City studded by landfills and crisscrossed by superhighways, adopted on Monday the greenhouse gas emission reduction goals outlined by the Kyoto Protocol, which went into force in 2005.
President George W. Bush withdrew from the international pact early in his first term, saying it would hurt the economy and unfairly left rapidly developing countries without emissions limits in its first round.
The decision by the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission came as growing numbers of US cities are pledging to adopt Kyoto emissions goals. Almost since the agreement went into force, Seattle's Mayor Greg Nickels has been urging US cities to adopt the emissions targets.
The Meadowlands Commission has environmental protection and economic development powers over 14 townships recovering from decades of heavy industry, like chemical and paint plants. It is battling fumes from vehicles on its many freeways.
"Mobil pollution is one of the key areas we have to deal with," said Robert Ceberio, executive director of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission. The commission agreed to cut emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, by 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012, the level that Kyoto had set for the United States, the world's leading emitter of greenhouse gases.
As of last Friday, 262 mayors of US cities representing 47 million people had pledged to meet the goals, according to the Seattle mayor's Web site.
Unlike the developed nations that are charged to make emissions reduction by Kyoto, the US regions agreeing to similar targets will not suffer a penalty if they fail to clean up.
But supporters say joining such an agreement helps cities to follow the lead of Portland, Oregon, which has voluntarily cut greenhouse emissions by much more than the Kyoto targets.
Ceberio said the Meadowlands hopes to meet the emissions goals by increasing public transportation, cutting down on parking lot space, and expanding renewable energy, including the possible conversion of gas from rotting garbage at landfills into truck fuel.