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...