With the administration still dragging its feet on joining the
worldwide battle against global warming, a growing number of
U.S. cities have decided that environmental activism begins at
home. More than 160 mayors have signed on to an urban anti-
global-warming agreement that some call the "municipal Kyoto."
And local initiatives aimed not only at greenhouse gases but
also at toxic chemicals and other threats are multiplying. >
LIGHTS OUT A new green-purchasing law requires San Francisco to
buy low-mercury light bulbs and use arsenic-free wood on
playgrounds > BACK TO BIKES In addition to cutting City Hall's
energy consumption, Chicago is promoting a public commuter-
bicycle station, partly solar powered, which provides indoor
parking for 300 bikes > FARE DEAL New York City's cabdrivers can
be gruff, but their vehicles, at least, will soon be enviro-
friendly: the city's new Clean Air Taxis Act will allow
thousands of cabbies to start switching to hybrid models this
summer > CHEMICAL-FREE TREES The college town