Greenhouse Crisis Foundation

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and the leaders of more than 30 other municipalities from around the globe pledged Friday to commit their cities to a broad set of environmental initiatives to allay global warming and reverse the ravages of pollution. The 12-point resolution was drafted by delegates to the first International Local Government Summit on the Environment, hosted by the city of Los Angeles and the Greenhouse Crisis Foundation.

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and the leaders of more than 30 other municipalities from around the globe pledged Friday to commit their cities to a broad set of environmental initiatives to allay global warming and reverse the ravages of pollution. The 12-point resolution was drafted by delegates to the first International Local Government Summit on the Environment, hosted by the city of Los Angeles and the Greenhouse Crisis Foundation.

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley said Friday that he will urge the City Council to create a new fund to underwrite the costs of environmental protection programs in the city and subsidize similar programs in Third World communities. The mayor's announcement came at the conclusion of a two-day "International Local Governments Summit on the Environment" in Los Angeles, which attracted municipal officials from 28 nations.

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley said Friday that he will urge the City Council to create a new fund to underwrite the costs of environmental protection programs in the city and subsidize similar programs in Third World communities. The mayor's announcement came at the conclusion of a two-day "International Local Governments Summit on the Environment" in Los Angeles, which attracted municipal officials from 28 nations.

Environmentalists hoping to spread guilt among drivers of cars that get low gas mileage said Tuesday that they will begin to slap "gas-guzzler violation" tickets on windshields nationwide. The coalition of environmental and consumer groups also plans to air on radio a public service announcement that features "slurping noises" and "painful coughing" while a voice tells about the harms of "very thirsty gas-guzzlers" with "bad breath."

Declaring that national governments have been too slow to act, mayors and local officials from 28 nations convened in Los Angeles on Thursday, trying to reach agreement on immediate steps cities can take to allay global warming and other environmental problems. Organizers of the event, which drew delegates from Eastern European countries, the Third World and Western nations, said it marks a new level of activism by cities to curb global environmental problems.

On Earth Day, the global news is mostly gloom. The atmosphere is warmer and fouler, another billion babies are on the way, and plant species that just might provide the cure for cancer are vanishing before scientists can put them under a microscope. Then there is Julia Russell, 54, who offers her Craftsman-style bungalow and yard on an average Los Feliz-area street as evidence that people can change the world's destructive ways, step by small step.