Last year was the warmest on record for the United States, and the past few decades have been the hottest in hundreds of years. Scientists agree that unless we reduce global warming pollution significantly in the next 50 years, average temperatures could rise another 3 to 9 degrees by the end of the century, causing more heat waves, air pollution, droughts and wildfires, heavier rains and flooding, rising sea levels, melting tundra and widespread loss of wildlife habitat.

Bipartisan support for real action to cut global warming emissions using cleaner, more efficient energy technologies is growing, and even leading American businesses, including General Electric, Wal-Mart, Duke Power and others, have called for mandatory pollution reductions. Reflecting the mounting pressure for real action, on January 16th, Senator Sanders (I-VT) and Senator Boxer (D-CA) introduced the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act of 2007, calling for cuts to heat-trapping pollution on the scale needed to help solve the global warming problem. The bill would freeze global warming emissions in 2010 and then gradually reduce emissions each year, reaching about 83 percent below current levels in 2050. In March 2007, Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) introduced a similar bill in the House.