City Councillor Frank H. Duehay '55 last night outlined a new plan to fight ozone depletion on a local level and urged other cities to adopt similar programs.

Duehay, a 20-year veteran of the City Council and a former mayor, told a crowd of approximately 30 students at North House that cities should stop waiting for action on the federal level and address environmental problems themselves.

"If we want to get anything done, we've got to do it. We can't just complain about who the president is," Duehay said. "I believe that it is possible to work on the most fundamental and difficult of our problems and do it right here at home."

Duehay, who sponsored several environmental initiatives during his past term, said Cambridge should combat global warming by implementing programs that would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1 to 1.5 percent each year.

"I think that a city like Cambridge could state that it wished to become an environmentally stable city, that it could set goals by the year 2005," Duehay said.

Duehay, who is seeking election to an 11th term, said the city could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by beginning to "plan in terms of its energy use, transportation policy, health policies [and] influence on utilities."

The councillor also called on other municipalities to adopt similar environmental goals and pass legislation on a local level.

"I suggest that Cambridge should challenge other cities in the metropolitan region to do the same thing. While this may sound complex and possibly undoable, it's really quite remarkable what individuals and institutions can do if they really put their minds to it," he said.

Duehay described how Harvard students had "pushed the city of Cambridge into recycling" and praised the work of the Environmental Action Committee in defeating a plan last year to build an 11-story multi-lane highway interchange in East Cambridge.

Duehay has been actively campaigning at Harvard during the past few weeks, visiting undergraduate dormitories and stomping in dining halls.