Two main stories to point to today about sustainable development in the Northwest. First is this piece on Seattle's mayor Greg Nickels from Reuters via ENN.

On the frontier of the fight against global warming, the mayor of Seattle boldly goes where the U.S. president will not -- like right to America's backyards.

As the mayor spearheading a drive to get U.S. cities to sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Greg Nickels is proposing a host of "green" initiatives, like urging Seattle dwellers to build rental units in their backyards to stem city sprawl and get people to live closer to downtown.

"We have lots of jobs downtown and we want to balance that with having a lot of new residents so that people are literally walking to work," Nickels told Reuters in an interview this week in his energy-efficient City Hall overlooking Puget Sound.

Nickels is the mayor who first urged U.S. cities to adhere to the targets of the Kyoto Protocol, the 164-nation agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions. President Bush pulled the United States out of the treaty in 2001.

Second is this audio story on how Portland is planning to deal with global warming and energy shortages. Click the link for links to the audio file.

From around the blue globe ...

*Crunch time for EU energy policy, from EurActive.

*Robert Katz has joined up with WorldChanging to provide analysis of sustainable development and base of the pyramid approaches.

*Peace and justice inseperable from Niger Delta problems, says Rivers State Governor, Dr Peter Odili. More on development issues in the Niger Delta here, here, here, here, here, and here.

*Sustainable development majors study rural sustainable agriculture practices in Honduras.

*At The New Federalist: How can Europe meet its responsibilities to the world?

*A human being first, a businessman second.

*Some coverage of an event at the Globalization Institute from Samizdata.

*Global poverty kills millions, but nobody wants free trade ...

*'Green Streets' in Salem, Oregon.

*A listing of Acumen Fund's 2006 fellows.