Nickels Leads Rebel Alliance of U.S. Mayors

To growth critics, Mayor Greg Nickels' developer-friendly stances smack of a deal with the dark side. Yet he's also responsible for what's shaping up to be of the most embarrassing domestic-policy confrontations the Bush administration has seen. As NEW's blog Cascadia Scorecard puts it:

Major props to Seattle mayor Greg Nickels who recently started the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. It is becoming something of a smackdown to federal leadership that refuses to take global warming seriously. The idea is simple: if the US government won't ratify the Kyoto Protocol, then the constituent parts of the nation will.

What began on March 10, 2005, as a small band of 10 mayors has blossomed to include 151 cities in 37 states. The list of mayors who don't suck is here, along with quotes that make you glad someone is taking this whole global warming thing seriously.