U.S. an environmental slacker

Polar ice caps are shrinking, glaciers are melting and coastlines are falling away. The culprit? Global warming caused by burning fossil fuels. Unless we take strong action, these conditions will only get worse.

For too long, the Bush administration has led people to believe that this isn’t happening, and, if it was, the remedies would only hurt our economy. The administration’s inaction on global warming ignores the findings of scientists throughout the world, and could imperil both our nation and the rest of the globe.

The Senate also recently missed an opportunity to take real steps to reduce global warming, although it did finally acknowledge for the first time that human activity is to blame for climate change and we, as a nation, should do something about it. Last week, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee finally held a hearing on climate change and its economic effects -- one hopes it will lead to progress. The truth is that investing in new technologies that are more environmentally friendly provides a huge opportunity for job creation and economic growth. If the government invested as heavily in alternative energy efforts as it does in the old fossil fuel industries, enormous savings could be achieved in both greenhouse gas emissions and economic costs to recover from global warming.

It is bad enough that the United States, the world’s largest contributor to climate change, refuses to acknowledge this growing problem, but earlier this month at the Group of 8 summit, we pushed our fellow major industrial nations to water down their commitment to reducing greenhouse gases.

It is also significant to note that the U.S. is the only G-8 nation that did not ratify the Kyoto Protocol, one of the best examples of international cooperation to sustain the world’s environment. More than 140 nations, including Russia, China and all 25 members of the European Union, have ratified this agreement, which sets specific goals to reduce man-made emissions of greenhouse gases.

American cities and states are not waiting for the federal government either. They are moving forward with their own efforts to tackle climate change. At the Sundance Summit in Salt Lake City this month, mayors from 46 cities agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions. And last month, the U.S. Conference of Mayors unanimously decided to require its member cities to attempt to meet or exceed the goals of the Kyoto Protocol. So far, 167 cities have signed on to enforce the Kyoto requirements. Seeing that Congress is slow to act, nearly 40 states have developed their own climate plans, and 18 states and the District of Columbia now require that a portion of their electricity be generated with renewable fuels rather than fossil fuels.

I am proud that California is leading other states in the fight against global warming, setting ambitious goals for slashing greenhouse gases 80% by mid-century and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from vehicle tailpipes.

California has good reason to take such strong steps. Global warming threatens its agricultural industry, water supply and world-famous beaches. Increasing temperatures could cause grapes to ripen early, lowering the quality of California’s wines, and could have a drastic effect on the dairy industry, reducing milk production by as much as 20%. In addition, California depends on the Sierra Nevada snowpack as its largest source of water. It is estimated that by the end of the century, the shrinking of this snowpack will eliminate the water source for 16 million people -- equal to all of the people in the Los Angeles Basin.

Individuals must also take real steps to combat global warming in their daily lives -- including driving more fuel-efficient cars, using mass transit and clean fuels, and being careful about how high they set their air conditioners in the summer and their furnaces in the winter.

It is truly shameful that the biggest industrialized nation on Earth is leaving it up to individuals, cities and states to take action on global warming. Their efforts are truly commendable, but in this case the United States needs concerted federal action to make real and significant progress to curb greenhouse gas emissions and preserve our planet for future generations.