U.S. cities take lead in climate change

NEW YORK, June 9 (UPI) -- U.S. cities are leaping ahead of the federal government in developing strategies for climate change.

From New York City to Seattle, local carbon emission targets are already beginning to change the lives of millions of urban dwellers, the Washington Post reported Saturday.

New York City taxi drivers, for example, have begun replacing gas-guzzling cabs with hybrids to comply with a new directive ordering the city's fleet of 13,000 cabs to slash carbon emissions within five years.

A nationwide poll taken in April showed a third of Americans now call global warming the single largest environmental problem. That is double the number from a year ago, showed a Washington Post-ABC News-Stanford University survey.

Boulder, Colo., has passed a "carbon tax" on electric bills while Chicago is experimenting with waterless urinals and distributing compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Keene, N.H., has imposed a non-idling policy for cars when parents drop off and pick up their children from school and Portland, Ore., uses water from the city's drinking water system to generate electricity.