U.S. must lead on global warming

I was relieved to hear President Bush acknowledge the importance of confronting global warming in his State of the Union address. However, his voluntary approach doesn’t go far enough to address this disastrous issue.

America must be a bold leader when it comes to confronting global warming. That involves passing strong federal legislation that includes a mandatory cap-and-trade system to, in the president’s own words, “slow, stop and reverse” global warming.

Right now, the U.S. Senate is considering a bill called the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act, which requires the U.S. to begin reducing our global warming pollution 2 percent per year. This legislation would implement a ground-breaking pollution cap-and-trade system for all major emitters of carbon dioxide such as power plants. It also utilizes payments by polluting companies to reduce energy costs for low-income families and to encourage innovation and new “green collar” jobs in the U.S. The bill will also fund efforts to protect America’s wildlife and natural resources from the impacts of global warming.

As a parent, I am gravely concerned about what state the planet will be in for my children. Global warming is the ball game. Climate change will have disastrous effects on the economy, jobs, and our quality of life in addition to the environment, wildlife and natural resources.

Sens. Ken Salazar and Wayne Allard need to take the lead on this issue by supporting and co-sponsoring the Climate Security Act.