New York Goes Gay and Green It's fascinating to see how, in the vacuum of federal leadership, the states and the private sector are taking the lead in public policy.

In New York, for example, Mayor Bloomberg introduced a 25-year "master plan" to help deal with expected growth in the city, and particularly the environmental toll that growth could take. A central part of the plan: "congestion pricing," in which drivers would be charged $8 for driving south of 86th Street in Manhattan.

This is a wonderful idea. Manhattan is a city of pedestrians, perhaps the only such city in the United States, and it is absolutely nuts for people to drive around the city just because they love to park their asses in their SUVs. Anything that can encourage the use of public transportation and leave fewer cars crawling around city streets sounds like a good thing to me. Not to mention the obvious energy savings it would provide....

Also yesterday, New York governor Elliot Spitzer announced that he'd be introducing a bill to legalize gay marriage in New York. Good for him—during his campaign, he said he would, and now he's keeping his promise. New York—well, New York City, anyway—is a place of diversity and tolerance, and we should affirm that by extending this right.  ¶ 7:42 AM