Photo: © ROBERT RATHE Mark Van Putten Past President National Wildlife Federation

THIS MONTH'S International Wildlife cover story provides new and disturbing evidence from the Pacific Islands of the mounting toll already being taken by climate change on some of the world's wildest places. It is one more link in the chain of evidence leading to an unquestionable verdict: The world must act now to address the climate change problem.

Here in America, the best place to start is at the source: our use of fossil fuels that feed global warming. The increasing urgency of the climate change problem demands an immediate shift to energy policies that embrace the most obvious source of savings--cutting waste through efficiency.

The last time America got serious about curbing wasteful energy use was in response to the oil price shocks of the 1970s, and we got results. We demanded that automakers squeeze greater mileage out of each gallon of gas and cut our Persian Gulf oil imports.

Recently, however, the Environmental Protection Agency evaluated how the new car fleet stacks up on fuel efficiency and found we're going backwards. On average, 2002 cars get slightly lower gasoline mileage than 2001 models. Sport-utility vehicles have sunk to their lowest average efficiency since 1980. Increasing federal fuel economy standards by just three miles per gallon would save a million barrels of oil a day and help to slash greenhouse gas emissions. But those savings will never be achieved given current policy directions.

Neither America nor the rest of the world can afford to dismiss such opportunities to reduce wasteful energy consumption and the climate-altering pollution that goes with it.

Measures aimed at curbing wasteful consumption and improving efficiencies can drive technological innovation. They can save consumers money, generate jobs here at home and create global opportunities for American technical leadership. By addressing threats to people, wildlife and resources worldwide, America can demonstrate its commitment to being a responsible member--and ideally, leader--of the world community. But until we make energy conservation and efficiency the centerpiece of American energy policy, we are squandering those opportunities and surrendering to the fate that climate change will bring.

By building awareness of what a warming climate will mean at home and around the world, the National Wildlife Federation seeks to generate public pressure on elected officials to seize these opportunities for a new and more realistic energy path before it's too late.

The future--for people, wildlife, the economy and our own national security--rests with strategies that lower energy demand by boosting conservation and efficiency. It's along this path that we can find solutions to the daunting challenge of global climate change.

Mark Van Putten
Past President
National Wildlife Federation