The United States is one of the largest polluters of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. Over a decade ago, the first President Bush signed an international pledge that was ratified by the Senate, promising to reduce U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by the year 2000. During that time, however, U.S. emissions increased by approximately 13%.

Global warming poses some very serious health problems for Pennsylvania. Rising temperatures are expected to cause heat-related problems, especially in urban areas like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Smog, which is caused when pollution reacts to heat and sun, could also increase along with rising temperatures. Changes in temperature also affect insect migration and can result in a rise of exotic disease, like West Nile Virus.

While many areas are expected to see drought along with rising temperatures, the mid-Atlantic may actually see an increase in precipitation due to global weather patterns. This will lead to increased rainwater runoff, a form of pollution that puts the region's water quality in jeopardy.

Global warming could also wreak havoc on the region's agricultural base. Farming and the industries that support it are by far the largest sector of Pennsylvania's economy. Pennsylvania's Lancaster County is home to the most productive nonirrigated farmland in the country. Severe weather of any kind-from drought to flooding-can hurt many of the region's crops.

Many scientists say that recent heatwaves in Europe, droughts in Africa and tornadoes in the US are signs that the effects of global warming are already being felt. As a major source of the world's global warming pollution, the United States has an obligation to act quickly on this issue.

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Ways We Can Address Global Warming

Thus far, the Bush administration has completely refused to address the problem of global warming. In August, the Environmental Protection Agency decided that it would not regulate greenhouse gases as pollutants. Prior to that, the Bush administration pulled the United States out of the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.

Recognizing that the President will not play a leadership role in this important issue, Clean Air Council is pushing Pennsylvania's elected officials in Washington to support "The Climate Stewardship Act." This bipartisan legislation would significantly reduce the air pollution that causes global warming.

You can make a difference by writing a letter to Senator Arlen Specter in support of the Climate Stewardship Act. Senator Specter has not yet decided on whether or not to support this Act. Your letter could help push him onto our side!

You can also make a difference by becoming a member of the Council. The more members that Clean Air Council has, the more influence we'll have in Washington and Harrisburg.

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The Climate Stewardship Act

"The Climate Stewardship Act" is a bipartisan bill that would significantly reduce the air pollution that causes global warming. The bill requires certain major businesses to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to the following levels:

* Reductions to 2000 greenhouse gas emissions levels by 2010.
* Reductions to 1990 levels by 2016.

The bill targets the electricity generation, transportation, industrial and economic sectors, which are responsible for approximately 85% of the nation's current greenhouse gas emissions. It does not apply to individual car owners, homeowners or farmers-just the major sources of pollution.

Introduced by moderate, business-friendly Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), the Climate Stewardship Act allows individual companies to determine the most cost-effective ways of reducing their emissions. It establishes a "cap-and-trade program" that allows businesses to reduce emissions using available technology or to purchase emission allowances from other companies. Modeled after the successful acid rain trading program of 1990, this is a constructive approach to addressing a problem that threatens our environment, our economy and out international credibility.

The Chicago Tribune says that the Climate Stewardship Act "makes sense because it calls for mandatory reductions, put provides flexibility in how those reductions are reached." The editorial pages of the New York Times, the Economist and Nature have already endorsed the bill. So have the Clean Air Council, the Natural Resources Defense Council, World Wildlife Fund, the Union of Concerned Scientists and many, many others.

The Climate Stewardship Act is a major step forward in reducing the air pollution that causes global warming.

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