Anne Arundel County (Map, News) - Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold has pledged to curb global warming, becoming the first county executive in Maryland to sign the U.S. Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement.

The agreement was created in 2005 by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels to encourage towns and cities to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. A total of 375 mayors from 50 states have signed the measure, representing more than 56 million people, says Nickel’s Web site. In Maryland, Annapolis, Chevy Chase, Baltimore City, Sykesville, Gaithersburg, Kensington and Rockville have signed on so far.

Leopold is the first county executive in Maryland to sign the agreement, and one of the first three county executives in the nation, said John Healy, communications director for Seattle’s office of sustainability and the environment.

“Local governments are on the front lines of the issue. They have the talent, capital and workforce to generate solutions to the problem,” Healy said.

Nickels formed the agreement because President Bush refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty signed by 141 nations that provides goals for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

“Clean air and clean water saves lives and improves the health of future generations,” Leopold said in a written statement.

In the U.S. Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement, mayors — and now county executives — agree to encourage the federal government and the U.S. Congress to enact policies and legislation to reduce global warming, as well as adopt policies in their own cities that encourage environmentally sound practices. The goal is for the municipalities to reduce emissions to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.

The agreement says that in order to achieve that, leaders should take several actions, including preserving open space, promoting bicycle trails, reducing the number of municipal cars, increasing recycling and educating the public on global warming. However, the agreement doesn’t require the towns to pass any new laws.

lgreenback@baltimoreexaminer.com