CHICAGO -- Mayor Richard M. Daley announced a plan Thursday to dramatically slash emissions of heat-trapping gases -- to three-fourths of 1990 levels by 2020 and to one-fifth of 1990 levels by 2050 -- as part of an effort to become one of the greenest cities in the nation. The plan calls for making buildings more energy efficient, finding clean and renewable energy sources, improving transportation and reducing industrial pollution. Daley was one of 800 mayors who agreed in late 2006 to cut emissions in accordance with the Kyoto Protocol.

"When I became mayor, 'climate change' wasn't on the radar for most cities, states and nations around the world -- or even for most people," Daley said in a written introduction to the plan. "But I believed then and believe even more deeply today that when you do such things as planting trees and creating open space, when you invest resources to remove pollution from the air and encourage the construction of buildings that are smart for the environment, then you enhance quality of life for all the residents of the city."

Officials say Chicago emits 34.6 million metric tons of greenhouse gases each year; including the six surrounding counties, that climbs to 103 million metric tons per year. If Chicago does not reduce emissions, summer heat indexes in the city could climb as high as 105 degrees -- similar to those in Mobile, Ala. -- by the end of the century, according to researchers from Texas Tech University in Lubbock and the University of Illinois who were commissioned by the city to study climate change.

Since 1980, Chicago's average temperature has risen approximately 2.6 degrees, 4 degrees in the winter.

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