A green offensive for New England. (From The Clean Air And Climate Change Projects).

THE TRANSFORMATION OF CLF's Energy Project to its Clean Air and Climate Change Project (CACCP) began with a realization--that international and national efforts to attack global warming and air pollution weren't proceeding rapidly enough to save New England from their devastating effects. The Energy Project had moved our power system to cleaner, more efficient forms of electricity generation, and created structural incentives for energy efficiency. But reducing greenhouse-gas emissions was just one of many reasons for undertaking that work.

We needed to refocus--on ways to create measurable reductions in emissions of gases that cause global warming, and on ways to create replicable models--for use beyond New England.

We needed to look at two major targets: electric-power plants, and vehicles propelled by internal combustion engines. The power sector produces about 33% of U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions, more than any other contributor. Transportation, with most of its emissions from passenger cars, is second, with 27%.

The challenges posed by transportation are the more complex of the two. Our roads are choked with millions of vehicles, each making a small contribution to the problem. But power comprises a relative handful of mammoth power plants, each responsible for a whopping percentage of emissions. For a results-oriented advocacy organization such as CLF, the immediate opportunities to slash emissions come in electricity production, an area in which state government has substantial power and influence. CLF is:

* fighting to implement the "Filthy Five" regulations that establish precedent-setting limits on greenhouse-gas emissions from coal-fired plants;

* working to preserve and build structures that foster renewable green energy;

* working with project developers and northern New England communities to gain acceptance for ridgeline wind development;

* working in Washington, D.C., and locally, to see that offshore wind projects are treated fairly in review processes, by ensuring that both the need to reduce emissions, and consideration of local concerns (such as aesthetics) are part of those processes;

* pressing state governments to lead the way in lowering emissions--through economic development strategies that build up the renewable power industry, by regulating sources of emissions, and by purchasing green power; and

* telling the climate story--emphasizing that global warming is the greatest threat to the human and natural environment of New England, and showing how energy conservation and renewable energy production can help avoid the crisis.

In the coming years, CACCP will continue and expand its work, by:

* helping to implement the green-power purchase mandate of the Renewable Portfolio Standard, and acting on opportunities presented by the next stages in restructuring our electricity industry;

* integrating CLF work on Marine Protected Areas and ocean management with our efforts to make appropriate offshore wind power a reality; and

* fighting to ensure that the vast "carbon sinks" of northern New England, particularly our national forests, remain intact.

We're also undertaking major transportation initiatives. We're advocating state laws that reward the purchase of more efficient cars and penalize that of gas guzzlers, as well as efforts to promote transit-friendly development patterns that require less driving and produce fewer emissions.

This work is but the latest extension of CLF's 30-year-plus effort to protect New England. Global warming is producing a rise in sea levels that will devastate our precious coastline. If we fail to address this threat immediately, native trees will migrate northward, our renowned fall colors will lose their stunning variety, and native birds and animals will be no more.

The scale and nature of the problem are enormous, the obstacles to be overcome deeply rooted. But we're surrounded by answers waiting to be embraced. We can make our economy, businesses, and society far more efficient. We can prosper and live well in a clean and sustainable way by using good planning and new technology. And we can replace fossil-fuel power with renewable energy.

As the father of young children, I must do all I can to turn our region into a model for achieving permanent, replicable reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions--without sacrificing quality of life. New Englanders are proud that the spark of freedom and democracy that began here ignited a revolution that shaped the nation and still reverberates around the world. Two hundred years hence, will our descendants feel the same about our efforts to address global warming? I sincerely hope so.