The non-participation of the United States in the recently ratified Kyoto Protocol¹ is a matter for global concern because it is estimated that the country produces 24% of all greenhouse-gas emissions worldwide². 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.

1. Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA

Correspondence to: Brendan Fisher¹ Email: brendan.fisher@uvm.edu

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