248 | Business World Magazine |
April 2013
In terms of important dates, February 16,
2005, could arguably represent a watershed
moment in the history of Winston-Salem.
On that day, more than 141 nations through-
out the world came together pledging com-
mitment to curb human factors contribut-
ing to climate change and global warming by
ratifying an agreement known as the Kyoto
Protocol. In a move that compelled consid-
erable consternation at the time, the United
States refused to participate. The inaction
was baffling to some considering findings
that U.S. greenhouse gas emissions repre-
sented 25% of all on Earth even though it
doesn’t come close to representing 25% of
the world’s population. The issue was par-
ticularly perplexing to town and city mayors
throughout America and following a cam-
paign led by a Mayor Greg Nickels of Seattle,
a resolution was adopted during that year’s
US Conference of Mayors. Known as the US
Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, the
idea was that mayors could adopt the kind
of environmental practices advocated by the
Kyoto Protocol and through their collec-
tive efforts to reduce carbon emissions; they
would accomplish what the federal govern-
ment would not.
