Gregory James Nickels (born August 7, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 51st mayor of Seattle, Washington.

[citation needed] Nickels was legislative assistant to Seattle City Council member and future mayor Norm Rice from 1979 to 1987.

In 2003, he helped to break ground for the Sound Transit Link light rail project in November, and signed an executive order in 2004 giving equal rights to everyone who is married and works for Seattle city government regardless of sexual orientation.

Seattle did not use salt to clear its roads, citing environmental concerns, which led to severe problems with the city's public transit system.

[5] Nickels' low popularity numbers did not recover by August 2009, when he was defeated in the primary election in his bid for a third term as Seattle's mayor.

The primary goal of the agenda is to reduce Seattle's greenhouse gas emissions "to meet or beat" the levels stipulated in the Kyoto protocols.

[11] Nickels spearheaded the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, an accord between over 600 US cities committed to reducing greenhouse emissions.