We are having a very warm winter here on the east coast. It was in the 50s just a few days ago. And you don't need your heavy coat if you go outdoors today either; it's early December, 11 am, and around 60 degrees.

It seems to me that our weather is starting to look like North Florida's weather. And it is just getting hotter down in Florida.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that we need to get our hands around this green house gas problem. That's the release of ozone reducing gases into the atmosphere that are reducing our protection from the sun and its harmful effects.

Washington could have signed on to an international treaty that would have helped address this issue. But it declined - even claiming that the problem doesn't exist.

Maybe its real warm in Washington and they just can no longer think clearly. Remember a few years back when a Vice President claimed to have invented the internet.

Or maybe people in Washington believe that if you say the same thing enough times, true or not, people will just start believing it.

Since we can't rely on the federal government to address this serious and obvious problem, the States are going to have to address these issues alone –at least for the time being. And certain States have developed programs designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

I hope that people who live in New Mexico are proud of Governor Richardson's response. It is a very powerful response. They seem to mean business in New Mexico.

In June, 2005, the Governor signed Executive Order 05-33 which outlined the State's program designed to address this problem.

The Executive Order acknowledged, at least implicitly, that it would have been better if the federal government took the lead, but since that did not happen, that State has stepped in to help fill the void to the limited extent that one State can do so.

Among other things, the Governor created a Climate Change Action Council consisting of numerous high level officials. And he also created an Advisory Group charged with evaluating competing options and proposing a program that will make quantifiable progress with substantial reductions in emissions by 2020 and 75% reductions by 2050.

This is no small task for an Advisory Group, but the Group has been hard at work and issued its final report this month. As I said, they mean business in New Mexico.

The report is filled with many different approaches that impact government, business and individuals. Everyone will be assigned some measure of responsibility to get this job done.

As I said, other States have also tried to fill the void created by Washington's failure to do anything. Buy I am particularly fond of New Mexico's approach because it was fast in coming, because it contains verifiable milestones, and because it creates an even obligation that will impact all levels of New Mexico society.

Ultimately I am sure that the federal government will step in and get involved. But I doubt it will ever come up with a program as well developed and as promptly delivered as what they did in New Mexico.

The information provided in this column is written by Stuart Lieberman,a practicing environmental attorney, and is for general information purposes only. It is not legal advice and should not be used in place of legal advice.

Stuart Lieberman, Esq., and IRED.Com, Inc., will not accept any responsibilty for any reliance on the information in this column or any damages whatsoever resulting from reading this column.