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The non-participation of the United States in the recently ratified Kyoto Protocol is a matter for global concern because it is estimated that the country produces 24% of all greenhouse-gas emissions worldwide. Here we analyse the commitment of individual states and municipalities to addressing this problem and find that, despite the federal policy, between 24 and 35% of the US population are currently (or soon will be) engaged in policies directed towards significantly reducing anthropogenic climate change. The importance of this sub-national effort, which we estimate corresponds to 27–49% of the gross domestic product, will depend — like the targets adopted in Kyoto — on the real reductions achieved in greenhouse-gas emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the criticism thrown at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by science advisers as it sets a new air-quality standard for ozone, a primary component of smog. EPA's decision will lessen the existing regulatory limit on ground-level ozone concentrations set in 1997 from a maximum of 84 parts per billion to 75 parts per billion. Environmentalists also dislike what they saw as the administration's interference. In a memorandum, Susan Dudley, a top regulatory official, encouraged the EPA not to set a secondary welfare standard at a lower level to protect against other environmental problems like the potential damage to crops and other vegetation. The EPA set the primary and the secondary standards at the same level.

The article focuses on increasing pressure for environmental disclosure in the U.S. It states that companies are expressing their recognition of the risks posed by global warming. The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a London, England-based group of institutional investors, are campaigning for the right of the shareholders to investigate the environmental policies of firms in which they are about to invest. The CDP pushes for voluntary disclosure and requires firms to assess the risks of global warming and reduce the greenhouse-gas emissions.