*February Marks Turning Point in Global Warming Struggle*

Global warming is the world's number one environmental problem.
But this month marks two big milestones in the fight to undo
global warming, in the United States and around the world.

First, Progress Around the World:

Starting today, the Kyoto Protocol goes into effect. More than
125 nations around the world are using the power of market-based
solutions to bring heat-trapping pollution under control.
Unfortunately, the United States, the world's largest greenhouse
gas polluter, is not on board. Much of the rest of the world is
already on track, cutting pollution with innovative technologies
and a carbon trading system.

Second, Progress In America:

The Climate Stewardship Act, just reintroduced in Congress, is
not the Kyoto Protocol. But it is a way for the country to do
its part in the fight to undo global warming. The bipartisan
bill would tackle global warming by making sensible and
affordable cuts in greenhouse gas pollution in the U.S. The
Climate Stewardship Act is the way for the U.S. to harness its
business acumen, ingenuity and technological prowess to deal
with the problem of global warming.

Climate Stewardship Act is Back - What You Can Do:

Momentum is growing to undo global warming. You and over 400,000
people have already signed the Emissions Petition, becoming
citizen co-sponsors of the Climate Stewardship Act. But we need
even more to convince Congress. Our goal is to get one million
citizen co-sponsors, and we need your help. Here's what you can
do:

1) Tell a friend. Send an email inviting friends, family, neighbors and others to sign the Emissions Petition:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/globalwarming_petition/forward/i5sxe849j8b86b

2) Send a personal reminder. You've already signed our petition
in support of the Climate Stewardship Act. Now, follow up and
remind President Bush and Congress that the U.S. needs to get in
front on the issue of global warming:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/csa_109/i5sxe849j8b86b

3) Help fund the campaign. Your donation will help pay for
petition canvassing, advertising, grassroots organizing and
old-fashioned Capitol Hill lobbying:
https://secure.environmentaldefense.org/donate/undoit/undoit_donate_1.cfm?pcd=2AX05AA001

4) Post a flyer. Post a global warming flyer on bulletin boards
in your community, explaining why this issue is so important and
what can be done about it:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/d7aYwHs1TjCG/

* Global Warming Evidence Mounts *

- 2004 was the fourth warmest year on record. The 10 hottest
years on record have all occurred since 1990!

- Record heat waves responsible for some 26,000 deaths battered
Europe in the summer of 2003 -- the hottest on the continent
since Shakespeare's time at least. The scorching temperatures
caused over $16 billion in damages to agriculture and other
industries. Global warming has doubled the risk of events like
the 2003 heat wave, according to a recent paper published in the
prestigious scientific journal Nature.

- A massive ice shelf the size of Rhode Island broke off from
Antarctica in 2002. Rapidly warming temperatures on the
Antarctic Peninsula were blamed for the loss of the Larsen B Ice
Shelf.

- Alaska's worse fire year on record was 2004. A total of 703
fires consumed over 6.5 million acres of forest, an area the
size of Maryland. Global warming will increase the risk of more
intense, destructive wildfires.

* Global Warming: Undo It! *
The Climate Stewardship Act is before Congress again and
Environmental Defense is ramping up its Global Warming: Undo It!
campaign. Here's what we're doing:

- Renewing our push to secure one million signatures on our
Emissions Petition.
- Firing up grassroots efforts across the country and in swing
states
- Hitting the media with our message
- Releasing new scientific reports
- Boosting our lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill and in state
legislatures