When big city mayors, business leaders, and environmentalists gathered recently in New York City to discuss climate change, at the heart of their talks was the effects of carbon emissions on the environment. Paige Kollock reports on what cities plan to do about it.
The mayors stood under the blazing sun in Central Park and vowed to take a stand, to make their cities greener, with or without the help of their national governments.
?We are united in the determination to meet the challenge of climate change,? said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Throughout the four-day summit, the mayors discussed ways in which to reduce the amount greenhouse gases, the so-called carbon footprint of their cities. One measure that several cities are considering to reduce carbon emissions is traffic pricing. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently proposed a so-called ?congestion tax? on cars entering Manhattan during business hours.
London already has a similar tax. Since 2003, British drivers have had to pay the equivalent of about $16 to enter downtown London.
Ken Livingstone is the mayor of London. He wants to expand the program to the outer boroughs because it has worked so well in the city's center.
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http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-06-07-voa28.cfm
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This just might help us become more environmentally friendly because with more and more of these types of taxes, everyone will have to live on the streets and woods and amongst the animals in nature...I guess...