To the editor:

Lawrence, Kan., along with sister cities in Germany and Japan, could initiate a “Sister Cities Campaign” to unite the Europeans, the Japanese, the Americans and the rest of the world in a global effort to tackle global warming together as an international team.

The Ministry of the Environment of Japan has launched a national campaign called “Team Minus 6 Percent” to achieve Japan’s greenhouse gas reduction target of 6 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. The concept is that all Japanese people should work together as a team to tackle global warming, and I believe this effort should be internationalized and that Lawrence and her sister cities could collaborate to internationalize the movement.

The campaign should, as the campaign in Japan does, call on people to take basic actions like wearing lighter clothing during summer and setting air conditioner thermostats higher, wearing heavier clothing in winter and setting furnace thermostats lower, by carpooling and by eliminating unnecessary auto driving whenever possible and by unplugging any power sapping devices not being used on a daily basis.

In Japan, a no-tie and no-jacket fashion for business wear was nicknamed “Cool Biz,” and Prime Minister Koizumi is setting the example by dressing lightly himself.

The Ministry in Japan has set up a campaign Web site (www.team-6.jp) for people to register on the “team” and to exchange and provide information in Japanese. Lawrence could assign a Webmaster to do the same in English and our sister city in Germany could do likewise in the German language.

Les Blevins,

Lawrence