SUSAN JOY HASSOL RANDY UDALL

A Change of

Despite a lack of leadership from the federal government, Although the signs of global warm- a ground swell of It is rare that a week goes by ing are becoming ever more promi- without the announcement of a nent, casual observers of the media activity to cut new initiative. Among recent clip- in the or Europe emissions of pings, New York Governor might easily conclude that U.S. cit- George Pataki, a Republican, an- izens are in denial about climate greenhouse gases nounced that his state aims to get change, refusing to take responsi- is emerging 25 percent of its electricity from bility for controlling their emissions carbon-free re- of (CO2) and the throughout the sources within a decade. Ford and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) that General Motors declared their in- cause global warming. Although it United States. tent to follow Toyota’s lead and is true that the federal government manufacture hybrid electric cars remains stalemated on how to deal and trucks that are more fuel-ef- with , the notion that ficient and less polluting. New no climate action is taking place in Hampshire adopted emissions this country is erroneous. The most intriguing story controls for three aging power plants. American Elec- is what has been happening in state legislatures, at tric Power, the largest single source of GHGs in the city council meetings, and in corporate boardrooms, as western world, launched an effort to reduce its emis- well as on college campuses, in community groups, sions by 4 percent by 2006. Students at Zach Ele- and in a range of other local settings. Across the na- mentary School in Ft. Collins, Colorado, choose to tion, numerous climate action programs are moving purchase wind energy instead of coal power, thus aggressively to reduce emissions of GHGs. keeping 420,000 pounds of CO2, the leading GHG, out of the atmosphere. How many millions of tons of CO2 have been saved by the activities of states, cities, corporations, and citizens has not yet been cal- Susan Joy Hassol ([email protected]) is affiliated with the Cen- culated, but the number is growing rapidly. ter for the Integrated Study of the Human Dimensions of Global Change in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at What is the significance of this nascent grass- Carnegie Mellon University. Randy Udall directs the Community roots movement? In the past, major shifts in societal Office for Resource Efficiency in Pitkin County, Colorado. values have originated at the local level. Popular

SPRING 2003 39 movements to abolish slavery, allow women to vote, significantly. In 1992, the National Academy of Sci- extend civil rights to African Americans, and curb ences cautiously concluded, “Increases in atmospheric secondhand smoke started small and then spread na- GHG concentrations probably will be followed by tionally. The nation now seems to be witnessing a increases in average atmospheric temperatures.” By similar snowball effect, where one successful climate 2001, the academy was much more definitive: action program inspires two or three more. These “Greenhouse gases are accumulating in Earth’s at- early efforts are demonstrating that climate protec- mosphere as a result of human activities, causing sur- tion is possible, affordable, and increasingly viewed face air temperatures to rise. Temperatures are, in as desirable by many political, corporate, and civic fact, rising . . . There is general agreement that the leaders. Widespread activities to reduce emissions of observed warming is real and particularly strong GHGs demonstrate that despite the partisan wran- within the past 20 years.” gling in Washington, ordinary citizens can begin ad- Reports issued by the Intergovernmental Panel dressing climate change now. The challenge will be on Climate Change, an interdisciplinary group of more for federal “leaders” to catch up. than 2,000 scientists, show a similar evolution. In 1990, the panel stated that the “unequivocal detection Temperatures rising of the enhanced from observations Although Swedish scientist first is not likely for a decade or more.” In 1995, it said suggested in 1896 that CO2 emitted from the burn- that “the balance of evidence suggests a discernible ing of would lead to global warming, the human influence on global climate.” In 2001, the panel issue did not receive sustained political attention until concluded that “there is new and stronger evidence the 1980s. In 1992, the United Nations Framework that most of the warming observed over the last 50 Convention on Climate Change set a goal of stabi- years is a attributable to human activities.” lizing atmospheric concentrations of GHGs at a level Another factor fueling the growth of climate ac- that would prevent dangerous interference with the tion programs is that climate change is becoming ev- . In 1997, the world’s nations gath- ident, even to lay people. New England gardeners ered in Kyoto, Japan, to negotiate how to accomplish notice that spring arrives about two weeks earlier this goal. The resulting agreement—the Kyoto Pro- than it used to, Inuit hunters confirm the rapid melting tocol—has now been signed by 100 nations and, if of Arctic sea ice, and rangers in National ratified by Russia, will go into effect later in 2003. Park document rapidly vanishing ice fields. Accord- The protocol, which would require the United ing to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad- States to reduce its GHG emissions to a level that is 7 ministration, the 10 warmest years in the historical percent below 1990 levels, met a frosty reception in record have occurred since 1980; 1998 was the Washington. One senator pronounced it “dead on ar- warmest year and 2002 was the second warmest. It rival.” During his presidential campaign, George W. has now been 17 years since the world has experi- Bush pledged to reduce CO2 emissions, but shortly enced a cooler-than-normal month. This sort of un- after taking office reneged on this pledge. All ending heat wave has not gone unnoticed. aside, it will be nearly impossible to stabilize global The human role in climate change is no longer a CO2 concentrations without the full and active coop- controversial theory to be debated on talk radio; in- eration of the United States. U.S. citizens are 4 percent creasingly, the public views it as a fact. And surveys of the world’s people but produce 25 percent of all show that people are concerned. For example, a recent GHGs. U.S. emissions are larger than the combined poll revealed that 75 percent of registered voters (in- emissions of 150 less developed countries. Texas cluding 65 percent of Republican voters) believe that alone produces more CO2 than the combined emis- doing nothing about global warming is “irresponsible sions of 100 countries, and the utility American Elec- and shortsighted.” The business community’s per- tric Power produces more than Turkey. ception of climate change also has changed. In the Several developments are driving the ground face of the accumulating body of scientific evidence, swell in climate action programs. For one thing, sci- denying the problem is no longer a credible corpo- entific understanding of climate change has advanced rate strategy. Many powerful corporations that once

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lobbied against climate action have fuel economy targets, emissions performed an about-face. Ford, for limits, seatbelts, and other ad- example, recently ran an ad that The notion that vances). However, because 10 per- read: “Global Warming. There, we cent of cars sold in the United cutting CO2 said it.” In public policy as in cor- States are purchased in California, porate affairs, once a problem is emissions will the state’s law (if it survives legal acknowledged, the discussion turns challenges) may become a de facto to possible solutions. It is against devastate the U.S. national standard, since automak- this evolving scientific and polit- economy is not ers are unlikely to build a separate ical backdrop that politicians, cor- line of cars solely for that market. porate executives, and citizens are borne out by Electric utilities produce 38 beginning to act. experience. percent of the nation’s GHGs and are an obvious target for reduc- States lead the charge tions. New Hampshire passed a Many states are large emitters of precedent-setting bill that requires GHGs. For example, 30 states emit Public Service Company of New more CO2 than Denmark, 10 states emit more than Hampshire, the state’s largest utility, to reduce CO2 the Netherlands, and Texas and California together emissions to 1990 levels by 2007. The bill was sup- emit more than all the nations of Africa combined. ported by a bipartisan coalition that included envi- Efforts by states to reduce their emissions thus have ronmental groups and the utility itself. “We knew global ramifications. And states have important reg- that there would be new legislation,” said company ulatory power over many activities that are relevant to spokesperson Martin Murray, “and we also knew that the issue of GHGs. if we were involved in developing it, it would be Some of the most significant activity has oc- more likely to emerge in a form we could support; curred in California. In 2001, the legislature passed an collaboration achieves better results than fighting.” $800 million energy conservation bill aimed at re- Oregon and Massachusetts also have passed laws ducing the state’s electricity use by 10 percent. Al- requiring cuts in CO2 emissions from power plants. though primarily intended to address the state’s elec- A 1997 Oregon law required new power plants to emit tricity crisis, the law also will lead to strong reductions 17 percent less CO2 than existing ones. Developers in GHG emissions. In 2002, the legislature took aim can offset plant emissions by contributing to energy at motor vehicles, which account for 40 percent of conservation efforts, developing renewable energy the state’s CO2 emissions, directing the California projects, planting trees, or using the plant’s waste heat Air Resources Board to develop a plan for the “max- in nearby buildings. Generators that violate the stan- imum feasible reduction” in CO2 emissions. Since dard are allowed to purchase credits from those who re- burning a gallon of gasoline produces 20 pounds of duce emissions more than required. In Massachusetts, CO2, the obvious way to reduce emissions is to im- the six power plants in the state that produce the most prove fuel efficiency. Today, a typical car produces CO2 are now required to reduce their emissions by 10 nearly 12,000 pounds of CO2 each year—roughly one percent by 2006Ð2008. Plants that fail to meet the pound per mile driven. Sport utility vehicles and light deadline must purchase emissions credits. trucks pollute more. Noting that federal fuel effi- New Jersey has committed to reduce GHG emis- ciency standards have barely budged in two decades, sions by 2005 to a level that is 3.5 percent below California’s governor, Gray Davis, said, “I would 1990 levels. Under the state’s comprehensive plan, prefer to have Washington take the lead, but in the one-third of the reductions will come from efficiency absence of that we have no choice but to do our part.” improvements in buildings, one-third from greater The auto industry has objected that the proposed use of clean energy technologies, and one-third from changes, to take effect in 2009, cannot be accom- improvements in transportation efficiency, waste man- plished and would not be acceptable to consumers. agement, and resource conservation. New York is (Automakers raised similar objections to previous providing $25 million in tax credits to building own-

SPRING 2003 41 ers and tenants who increase energy efficiency. Mary- Washington, and Connecticut, recently notified the land is waiving its sales tax on efficient refrigerators, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of their in- room air conditioners, and clothes washers. In Ore- tent to sue the agency for failing to regulate CO2 gon, appliances that are 25 percent more efficient emissions under the federal Clear Air Act. The at- than federal standards qualify for a tax credit. torneys general of 11 states wrote to urge President States also are addressing climate change by pro- Bush to cap power plant CO2 emissions and increase moting carbon-free renewable energy sources, such as automobile fuel efficiency. The chief legal officers wind and solar power. In 1999, George W. Bush, then of Massachusetts, Alaska, Maine, New Hampshire, governor of Texas, signed a bill requiring the state’s Rhode Island, Vermont, California, New York, Con- electricity providers to develop 2,000 megawatts of re- necticut, New Jersey, and Maryland wrote, “Far from newable capacity by 2009—and this goal has already proposing solutions to the climate change problem, been achieved. Under this renewable portfolio stan- the administration has been adopting energy policies dard (RPS), energy providers can develop the capac- that would actually increase emis- ity themselves or purchase credits from solar, wind, sions.” The authors urged the president to “adopt a hydro, biomass, and landfill gas projects. A surge in comprehensive policy that would protect both our wind power development was spurred by the syner- citizens and our economy.” gistic effect of the RPS and a federal tax credit for This coin has another side, however. A number of wind energy production. (The federal credit is set to states, including Wyoming, West Virginia, Pennsyl- expire at the end of 2003, unless extended by vania, North Dakota, Colorado, and Alabama, have Congress.) Maine, California, Wisconsin, Arizona, passed resolutions barring state action to reduce GHG Minnesota, Iowa, Connecticut, Nevada, New Jersey, emissions or urging Congress to reject the Kyoto Pro- New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts also tocol, or both. It is probably no coincidence that these have adopted RPSs. These programs will collectively states are among the nation’s largest coal producers. produce enough carbon-free electricity to power 7.5 In states where coal provides the bulk of the elec- million homes, according to calculations by the Union tricity, a family’s $100 electric bill represents the of Concerned Scientists. This is the equivalent of tak- mining of 1,400 pounds of coal, whose burning cre- ing 5.3 million cars off the road or planting 1.6 billion ates nearly 3,000 pounds of CO2, most of which will trees. The annual CO2 savings equal about one-half of still be in the atmosphere a century from now. But 1 percent of the nation’s total emissions. in a sign of the times, some of these same states are Some states are enhancing their impact by band- now developing climate action plans. ing together to address climate change. Six New Eng- land governors joined premiers of eastern Canadian Cities at work provinces in pledging to lower, by the year 2020, More than 100 cities already have pledged to cut their greenhouse emissions to a level that is 10 percent GHG emissions. For example, the San Francisco below 1990 levels. The pact calls for reducing elec- Board of Supervisors in early 2002 unanimously tricity emissions by using more clean-burning natural passed Mayor Willie Brown’s bold resolution to cut gas, increasing renewable energy sources, and pro- the city’s emissions over the next 10 years to a level moting energy efficiency. Signed in 2001 by three that is 20 percent below 1990 levels (a 13 percent Republican governors, two Democrats, and an Inde- greater reduction than would have been required under pendent, the pact demonstrates strong bipartisan sup- the ). “When Washington isn’t pro- port for curbing global warming. “This agreement viding leadership, it’s critical for local governments to sends a powerful message to the rest of the nation step in,” Brown said, adding that the goal “is as much about the importance of working cooperatively to cut about protecting our national security as it is about pollution,” said Jeanne Shaheen, then the governor protecting our quality of life.” of New Hampshire. “If we’re going to be successful, Since city governments own buildings, operate it means not just working on it in New Hampshire.” motor vehicle fleets, and regulate such things as util- The attorneys general of seven states, New York, ity rates, energy codes, mass transit, highway con- Massachusetts, Maine, New Jersey, Rhode Island, struction, outdoor lighting codes, waste management,

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land use, and other activities that ing the family home, while half have large climate effects, there are come from driving cars. Not only many policies they can adopt to re- Providing a great are many families cutting back on duce GHG emissions. A brief sam- use of fossil fuels, they are taking pling of measures that have been deal more federal other steps as well. The federal Of- incorporated into climate action funding for the fice of Energy Efficiency and plans includes the integration of Renewable Energy estimates that transportation and land use poli- development of nationwide about 400,000 house- cies in Portland, Oregon; altering tomorrow’s clean holds are buying carbon-free elec- the commuting behavior of munic- tricity from their utility companies. ipal employees in Los Angeles; and energy technologies In Colorado, 26,000 families and purchasing hybrid electric vehicles hundreds of businesses are partic- for municipal fleets in Denver. is crucial. ipating in a “green pricing” pro- Aspen, Colorado, now levies the gram that has helped fund two world’s highest on prof- $30-million wind farms. This pro- ligate energy use in high-end gram, which has counterparts in homes, raising $1.9 million that has many states, keeps 180,000 tons been used to install solar hot water systems, buy wind of CO2 out of the air each year. By spending $5 per power, fund rebates for energy-efficient appliances, month on wind power, a Colorado family can save and retrofit public buildings. 4,800 pounds of CO2 each year—an 11 percent re- The International Council for Local Environ- duction in its climate impact for less than 20 cents mental Initiatives offers guidance to cities through per day. Driving a more efficient car, weatherizing its Cities for Climate Protection campaign, in which their home, and installing compact fluorescent lights municipalities commit to inventory their GHG emis- in place of incandescents can double these savings. sions, set a target for future reductions, develop a local action plan, and verify its results. More than Corporate clout 500 cities worldwide (including 125 U.S. cities), rep- A growing list of prominent corporations, including resenting 8 percent of global GHG emissions, are automakers, oil companies, and electric utilities, have participating in the program. Cities have found dozens voluntarily committed to reducing their GHG emis- of ways to reduce or offset emissions, including tree sions. By their public pronouncements, these corpo- planting, mass transit, renewable energy, lighting rations seem to have concluded that climate change retrofits, mechanical upgrades of public buildings, can no longer be ignored and that responsible com- installing light-emitting-diode bulbs in stoplights, panies must engage the problem. Among Fortune 500 stronger energy codes for new buildings, carpooling, companies, there is an increasing belief that it is only and bike lanes. a matter of time before GHGs are regulated, so be- Complementing public actions, individuals and ginning now to reduce emissions and factor climate private organizations are getting into the CO2 reduc- change into long-range planning is a smart strategy. tion act. Students at the University of Colorado in- Some corporations have concluded that climate action creased their student fees to purchase the entire output presents an attractive business opportunity. For others, of a large wind turbine, thus saving 2,000 tons of including electric utilities, the uncertainties of future CO2. In Pennsylvania, 25 colleges are purchasing climate policy cast a huge shadow over investment de- wind power. A religious group called Episcopal Power cisions, including whether to build new coal plants and Light is recruiting churches on the East Coast or retrofit aging ones. This risk of uncertainty, of not and in the San Francisco Bay area to buy wind energy. knowing what federal regulators may ultimately re- Families have an important role to play. The typical quire, has begun to seem more financially hazardous U.S. household produces more than 43,000 pounds of than does resolving the matter. CO2 per year, or 120 pounds per day. Half of these The notion that cutting CO2 emissions will dev- emissions come from heating, cooling, and operat- astate the U.S. economy is not borne out by experi-

SPRING 2003 43 ence. As manufacturers evaluate their energy use, to announce that this fuel-saving option will soon be they are discovering that many reductions are prof- available in their vehicles. itable and thus enhance their competitive position. Nongovernmental organizations are helping cor- For example, IBM reduced its total energy use by al- porations address the climate challenge. The Pew most 7 percent in 2001, saving $22.6 million and Center on Global Climate Change (with 38 companies 220,100 tons of CO2 emissions. Corporations also on its Business Environmental Leadership Council) are discovering that they can increase productivity and Environmental Defense’s Partnership for Cli- while simultaneously reducing emissions, further mate Action help corporations identify cost-effective challenging the belief that economic growth and CO2 strategies for reducing their GHG emissions. Partic- reductions are incompatible. DuPont has reduced its ipating companies share lessons they have learned GHG emissions to 63 percent below 1990 levels (pri- in order to piggyback on each other’s success. Most marily by reducing nitrous oxide emissions and other companies begin by reducing their lighting loads and byproducts of fluorocarbon manufacture) and has upgrading their factories’ heating, cooling, and pump- held energy consumption flat since 1990, despite a ing equipment. Some of the resulting savings are then 36 percent increase in company output. The com- often spent to buy clean power, further reducing emis- pany views its climate change activities as a way to sions. Prominent companies buying wind energy in- prepare “for the market place of 20 to 50 years from clude Kinko’s, Lowe’s Home Warehouse, Advanced now—which will demand less emissions and a Micro Devices, Patagonia, and Toyota. markedly smaller ‘environmental footprint’ from human activity.” The road ahead Among other corporate actions, Alcoa has A skeptic might fairly point out that CO2 emissions in pledged to reduce GHG emissions by the year 2010 to the United States are still rising, and that by 2010 a level that is 25 percent less than 1990 levels. Dow emissions are likely to be about 25 percent higher has committed to reduce energy use per pound of than they were in 1990. Two important reasons for product by 20 percent. In 1997, BP was the first major this rise are immigration and lifestyle choices. The oil company to declare that action to reduce climate nation has added more than 30 million people and change was justified. The company, which supplies 25 million motor vehicles since 1990, roughly equiv- approximately 3 percent of the world’s oil, pledged a alent to grafting on another California. At the same 10 percent reduction in its own emissions (not those time, consumers are using 10 percent more energy produced by the fuels it sells), and reached that goal per capita than two decades ago as people drive more in 2002, eight years ahead of target. By using less and choose larger homes and automobiles. A typical fuel to produce its products and by burning off (“flar- U.S. citizen now produces about a million pounds of ing”) less natural gas at oil wells, the company saved CO2 in his or her lifetime. an estimated $650 million. According to the com- Against this picture, is it really possible to forge at pany’s chief executive, John Browne: “People ex- the grassroots level a climate action plan that will be pect successful companies to take on challenges, to sufficient to the challenge? Probably not. To achieve apply skills and technology and to give them better the goal of stabilizing GHG concentrations in the at- choices. Well, we are ready to do our part—to rein- mosphere, emissions will need to eventually fall to vent the energy business, to stabilize our emissions— nearly zero. It is difficult to see how this can occur and, in doing so, to make a contribution to the chal- without federal action. In this light, the news is mixed. lenge facing the world.” BP is betting that, in the Most of the federal government seems at loggerheads long term, its solar subsidiary will profit from expo- over issues related to global warming, and the Bush nential growth in photovoltaics, a market that is dou- administration remains firm in its opposition to the bling every three years. The idea that climate change Kyoto Protocol. However, a number of federal agen- represents a new business opportunity also is taking cies are quietly conducting voluntary programs to re- hold among automakers. The commercial success of duce CO2 emissions. In addition, Sen. John McCain hybrid electric cars from Toyota and Honda has (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) re- pushed Ford, Daimler-Chrysler, and General Motors cently introduced a bill to cap CO2 emissions and

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launch a market for economy-wide tainty facing the business commu- trading in them. This type of sys- nity, thus potentially making the tem has been successful in reducing States may play an most cost-effective solutions more sulfur dioxide emissions. The cap important catalytic difficult.” They also pointed to a would be adjusted over time as recent Department of Energy re- needed to achieve climate goals, role in promoting port that concluded that the United and large polluters would be re- States “could address carbon diox- quired to purchase emission al- national action. ide emissions issues with minimal lowances in a CO2 marketplace. It disruption of energy supply and at also has been suggested that the modest cost, but only with fully federal government should place a integrated planning. Such inte- tax on CO2 emissions. With either a grated planning would be best pro- cap-and-trade system or a tax, putting CO2 into the moted by the regulatory certainty that would result atmosphere would no longer be free, something from comprehensive regulatory action at the national economists say is critical to addressing the climate level.” Such statements illustrate that by failing to challenge in an economically efficient manner. provide leadership, the federal government is insti- States may play an important catalytic role in gating a proliferation of varying state standards, on ev- promoting national action. “If several large states, erything from cars to utility regulation, that will be such as California, New York, and Pennsylvania, more difficult for businesses and more expensive for were all to pass similar legislation, it might be possi- consumers. ble to actually begin to develop a national carbon An economy-wide cap-and-trade system or CO2 regime before any formal action tax would result in wide-ranging market-driven is taken at the federal level,” according to Granger changes that would supplant the need for the many Morgan of Carnegie Mellon University. This is other federal emissions reduction programs. But short roughly how the trading of nitrogen oxides among of such a comprehensive strategy, there is still a great the states of the Northeast developed. But unlike with deal that Washington could and should be doing. The nitrogen oxides, states would not have to be located Bush administration currently favors a voluntary ap- next to each other for CO2 trading to make sense, be- proach that recognizes corporations that offer to meet cause CO2 mixes globally, and a ton saved anywhere certain reduction goals. But the scale of the climate has value anywhere else. challenge ordains that a voluntary approach will not Given the clear need for a national solution, are suffice. To gradually but thoroughly reengineer the states and cities in danger of overreaching as they nation’s energy systems to be free of CO2 emissions, begin to regulate emissions? Again, probably not. new energy technologies will be required. R&D is ur- Congress recently rejected proposals to adopt a na- gently needed for advanced vehicles, less expensive tional RPS and to set stricter federal automotive fuel and more efficient photovoltaic cells, advanced bio- efficiency standards. Therefore, states are doing the fuels, a hydrogen infrastructure, methods to capture right thing to push the debate on these issues. In ad- and sequester carbon dioxide, and other vital tech- dition, these programs provide a laboratory for learn- nologies. ing what approaches work best, so that as the pro- Providing a great deal more federal funding for grams expand, eventually to the national level, there the development of tomorrow’s clean energy tech- will be a variety of lessons to draw on in structuring nologies is thus crucial. Maintaining or expanding the most workable and cost-effective strategy. federal support for today’s renewable energy re- People working to reduce emissions around the sources, such as the production tax credit for wind country recognize that state efforts are no panacea, power, is also imperative. Federal economic encour- and they would eagerly applaud a more active fed- agement will have synergistic effects with state pro- eral role. As the group of attorneys general wrote to grams as well, in getting new technologies into the President Bush in 2002: “State-by-state action is not marketplace and increasing their volume enough for our preferred option . . . It may increase the uncer- economies of scale to drive down their costs. In ad-

SPRING 2003 45 dition, setting more aggressive federal efficiency stan- daunting, eliminating a billion tons of CO2 begins dards for energy-consuming equipment from air con- with the first ton. Each of the activities at the grass- ditioners to automobiles would help (as opposed to the roots level reduces emissions, provides lessons about recent rollback of air conditioner standards and the how to reduce them further, and perhaps most im- miniscule suggested increase in fuel economy for au- portant, brings pressure to bear on the federal gov- tomobiles). And it is essential that Washington reen- ernment to initiate the comprehensive strategy that gage in the evolving international response to cli- is urgently needed. How long will it take for Wash- mate change. ington to feel the heat? To say that Washington should do more does not mean that the surging tide of subfederal activities is Recommended not moving the political debate. These activities are Cities for Climate Protection (www.iclei.org/co2/). demonstrating that there is a political appetite for car- Council of New England Governors and Eastern bon reductions, that such reductions are often prof- Canadian Premiers, “Resolution Concerning Cli- itable (though as reductions proceed, their cost is ex- mate Change” (www.cmp.ca/reports_08_2002/ pected to rise but still be affordable), and that many 27-7_climate_change_e.pdf). climate initiatives have numerous economic and en- Pew Center on Global Climate Change (www. vironmental benefits. The Bush administration rejects pewclimate.org). mandatory GHG reductions on the grounds that they State legislative actions on climate change (http:// would harm the nation’s economy, yet many states yosemite.epa.gov/globalwarming/ghg.nsf/ taking climate action are doing so partly because it actions/legislativeinitiatives). benefits their economies and leads to greater energy Union of Concerned Scientists (www.ucsusa.org). independence. Improving energy efficiency that im- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), States proves the bottom line and developing renewable en- Guidance Document: Policy Planning to Reduce ergy sources that reduce costs, pollution, and depen- , Second Edition, EPA dence on foreign oil are just the kinds of steps that the Office of Policy, Planning and Evaluation, May federal government could be taking to address both 1998 (http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarm- economic and security concerns at the national level. ing.nsf/UniqueKeyLookup/SHSU5BUMXF/ Thus, many U.S. citizens are, indeed, taking re- $File/guid_doc.pdf). sponsibility for climate change—and are demon- EPA state climate action plans (http://yosemite.epa. strating in countless ways their willingness to invest gov/globalwarming/ghg.nsf/actions/ in solutions. Although the scale of the challenge is StateActionPlans).

46 ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY