The New York Times reports that last weekend's Mayor’s Climate Change Conference in Seattle was definitely a step in the right direction by the 100 mayors in attendance.

Over 700 mayors have signed on to reduce their cities’ emissions to levels within the Kyoto Protocol, which Seattle’s Mayor Greg Nickels, host of the conference, explained Seattle has already exceeded. The mayors gathered at the conference to discuss ideas and ways to encourage and promote sustainable development in cities and report on their own cities' achievements.

While the goals seemed ambitious and virtuous, a lot of mayors were concerned about political support for this in their cities and logistical issues. Many mayors have not come up with ways to effectively measure emissions, develop green building standards, or figure out ways to sell this idea to the voting public.

Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Mayor Michael Bloomberg also attended the meeting. Bill Clinton delivered a pledge to assist the mayors in implementing this strategy by arranging volume discounts with suppliers of energy efficient products.