GLOBAL WARMING: The polar bear could soon be listed as an endangered species as a result of global warming, which is melting the bear’s habitat.

For the first time, global warming has taken center stage in the halls of Congress.

In early March, under the leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the House of Representatives established the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. The Speaker also directed all relevant committees to pass legislation on energy and global warming by June 1 so that it could be considered on the House floor by Independence Day.

Said Speaker Pelosi: “Global warming may be the greatest challenge of our time, setting at risk our economy, environment and national security. In the House of Representatives, debate on global warming has been stifled for 12 years; we can’t wait any longer.”

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Barbara Boxer has declared global warming the committee’s top priority.

In February, a new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations body charged with assessing the scientific record on global warming, concluded that the evidence of global warming is “unequivocal” and warned of climbing temperatures, rising seas, and shifting weather patterns unless serious action is taken quickly to reduce global warming pollution. The IPCC will release three additional reports later this year examining different aspects of the problem and available solutions.

“Sections of this report read like the Book of Revelations, but there’s still time to protect future generations if Congress puts strict limits on global warming pollution,” said U.S. PIRG Federal Global Warming Program Director Emily Figdor.

Indeed, solutions to meet strict pollution limits are at our fingertips: clean energy sources like wind and solar power, cars that go farther on a gallon of gas, more energy-efficient appliances ,and other energy-saving technologies.

In a 2006 report “Rising to the Challenge: Six Steps to Cut Global Warming Pollution in the United States,” U.S. PIRG researchers provided a blueprint for reducing total U.S. global warming emissions by nearly 20 percent by 2020 by boosting energy efficiency and renewable energy. The report lists six steps that, if implemented, could achieve these reductions, while improving America’s environment and our energy security.

U.S. PIRG has been building support for science-based global warming legislation in Congress that will reduce global warming pollution quickly enough and sufficiently enough to stave off the most dangerous effects of global warming, such as a major increase in sea levels and mass species extinctions.

In March, Representative Henry Waxman (Calif.) introduced the Safe Climate Act with more than 125 cosponsors. The bill would reduce global warming pollution to the levels current science indicates are needed to prevent the worst effects of global warming. Senator Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (Calif.) introduced the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act, similar comprehensive, science-based legislation.

In the coming months, U.S. PIRG will continue work to build additional support for the bills. We also expect the U.S. Supreme Court to rule this spring in a landmark global warming case. U.S. PIRG is a petitioner in the case, along with a coalition of states, cities, and environmental organizations. At issue is whether the Clean Air Act compels the U.S. EPA to regulate global warming emissions from cars and light trucks.