Oh the climate, it is a changin': from city to state to nation, officials are trying to reduce the amount of pollutants that are contributing to global warming.

• Author: DeCesaro, Jennifer

Austria's Pitztal Glacier is draped with blankets to slow unusually rapid summer melting. Ski resorts in the Pacific Northwest closed early last year because it rained instead of snowed. We just might be forced to start buying only "pure Canadian maple syrup" as rising temperatures and erratic weather patterns threaten New England's maple trees.

Fourteen years ago, 100 heads of state signed the U.N.'s Framework Convention on Climate Change--acknowledging that change in the Earth's climate and its adverse effects are a common concern of humankind. In January, six former heads of the Environmental Protection Agency and EPA's current chief, Stephen L. Johnson, agreed that global warming is a real problem and that humans bear significant blame (although there was not unanimity on how to proceed).

Today there is bipartisan leadership from Maine to California to reduce emissions with businesses working with one another--and state and local governments--to cleanup America's air.

"The debate is over," says California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger who is pushing actions to limit greenhouse gases. "We know the science, we know the time for action is now. Global warming, pollution and the burning of fossil fuels that causes it are threats we see in California and everywhere around the world."

New York Governor George Pataki, who says "the environment is a vibrant, living resource that needs to be protected," is leading a coalition of Northeast states to reduce greenhouse gas. Kevin Burke, president and CEO of Con Edison, says his company has a commitment to "environmental excellence." He says the regional effort is "an important step in addressing climate change."

Although the president does not support mandatory controls on carbon dioxide, the principal culprit blamed for trapping heat in the atmosphere, he does support solutions to reducing the nation's greenhouse gas intensity by 18 percent over 10 years, says EPA's Johnson. EPA is "working hand-in-hand with business to voluntarily reduce their climate footprints in cost-effective ways."

Everyone--legislators, ratepayers, the environmental community, the health care community, business, and the electric power industry--has to get involved, says New Hampshire Governor John Lynch.

A CAUSE FOR CONCERN

The United States is responsible for more than 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to the earth's rising temperatures by trapping heat in the Earth's atmosphere. For the past 10 years, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions have risen by 1.5 percent a year. Global emissions of carbon dioxide, the most prevalent greenhouse gas, are expected to increase 1.9 percent annually between 2001 and 2025, while emissions in developing countries are expected to increase at a rate of 2.7 percent per year during the same time frame.

Carbon dioxide, which comes from burning fuel, is the major culprit. Other emissions contributing to the problem include methane, much of which comes from agriculture and waste dumps, and nitrous oxide, mostly a result of fertilizer use. Three industrial gases used in refrigerants, heat conductors and insulators also contribute--hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride.

But dirty air isn't just about our climate changing. It exacerbates asthma attacks and other health problems and is responsible for permanently changing fragile ecosystems. The golden toad, accustomed to a perpetually wet climate, is now thought to be extinct and one of the first victims of warmer weather.

Clean air helps people with lung problems breath better and all living things enjoy a...