Cool Cities

The newest issue of Business Week contains a special report on global warming, including lists of the "low carbon leaders" in both business and government. Their list of Top City Governments in terms of emissions reductions planning and results:

1. Woking, England
   
2. Vaxjo, Sweden
   
3. Portland, Oregon
   
4. Heidelberg, Germany
   
5. Toronto, Canada
   
6. Barcelona, Spain
   
7. London, England
   
8. Seattle, Washington
   
9. Melbourne, Australia
   
10. The Hague, The Netherlands

Interesting to note that three of those cities -- Portland, Seattle and Melbourne -- made the list despite the failure of their federal governments to ratify Kyoto. For more on how municipalities are joining (and, in some cases, taking the lead) in the fight against global warming, see the Sierra Club report Cool Cities, which includes a map of 183 cities whose mayors have pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.

As a final note, Business Week worked with the Climate Group and Innovest to compile its lists. And while it should not be construed as an endorsement of any kind, we proudly note that the magazine's panel of judges included Elizabeth May, executive director of Sierra Club of/du Canada.