They may not be the leading source of greenhouse gas emissions, but they are undoubtedly a leading source of annoyance. Toronto City Council considers banning leaf blowers.

New York Times

Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago on Thursday unveiled perhaps the most aggressive plan of any major American city to reduce heat-trapping gases.

The blueprint would change the city’s building codes to promote energy efficiency. It also calls for installing huge solar panels at municipal properties and building alternative fueling stations.

The Seattle Times

Since the first curbside recycling program was initiated in 1987, Seattleites have become accustomed to recycling paper, glass, metals and yard waste. Many see it as their civic duty and a way to help the environment.

Still, the city of Seattle sends by truck and train more than 50 percent — 440,000 tons per year — of its municipal waste to landfills, much of it to Bend, Ore. A large percentage of municipal landfill waste is from construction and demolition debris, estimated to be between 20 and 30 percent nationally.

The New York Times

Asian countries need help to build cities that can cope with the region’s ’’unprecedented’’ urban expansion of more than 100,000 people a day over the next two decades, the Asian Development Bank said Wednesday.

Reuters

The world’s major cities are also among the planet’s worst polluters but they have the solutions to most of their problems at their fingertips, a leading environmental consultancy said on Monday.

Green Tech Blog

Climate change experts from four cities-London, Toronto, Chicago, and New York-spoke about the connections between sustainable urban design, energy, the economy, and human health on Monday at the Mass Impact Symposium, organized by the Boston Society of Architects and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Burlington, Vermont – recently recognized as the greenest city in the U.S. – shows us that smart policies and active citizens can go a long way towards tackling climate change.

“Climate change map sends 12 capitals further south.”