In environmental news, the mayor of Seattle, Greg Nickels, has launched a nationwide campaign to convince other cities to agree to the terms of the Kyoto Protocol on global warming. The treaty went into effect last week but the United States has refused to sign the agreement. Nickels said his goal is to inspire our federal government to take the action it should have done years ago.” He hopes to recruit 140 cities to match the 140 nations that have already signed the treaty. Mayors in several cities have already agreed including Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Minneapolis, Oakland and Portland Oregon.