Even if the US administration refuses to commit to cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, local leaders and grassroots organisations said they are ready to step into the breach.

"I'm ashamed by the Bush administration's decision to sit on the sidelines of the conference as an observer," said Lisa Renstrom, president of the Sierra Club, a US environment group, at a press conference on the sidelines of the UN climate change meeting.

In lieu of tough national standards, rejected by the Bush administration which has refused to ratify the Kyoto protocol, 192 US city mayors have signed a climate protection agreement in recent months, pledging to meet or beat Kyoto targets for reducing emissions.

The list includes almost half of the 50 largest US cities, including New York.

They plan to build more public transportation, use more hybrid-powered buses that use alternative fuels, and update building codes to encourage the design and construction of so-called green buildings.

"We're solving global warming one city at a time," Renstrom said.

Miami Mayor Harvey Rupin told AFP: "It's embarrassing that we have not signed the Kyoto protocol. We should be leading the world rather than lagging behind the world."

"Although the federal government does not get it, the people of America get it and local governments get it," he said.

Pundits have expressed concern that such action only eases pressure on the White House to act.

The Sierra Club group rejected such suggestions.

"There is no excuse-making going on here. We just want to show that Americans are not in step with the Bush administration," Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels said.

"We're trying to leverage US public opinion," declared David Foster, director of the United Steelworkers of America district 11, who noted that the most secure jobs in the global marketplace were in environmentally-friendly sectors.

He was flanked by Ray Anderson of Interface Inc. who described how the carpet manufacturer had cut costs and produced better products while reducing emissions, energy use and waste, "exposing the false choice between the environment and the economy."

Still, Nickels acknowledged that federal intervention is needed if Americans hope to confront one of the biggest polluters -- automobiles.

Washington and Oregon states have managed to reduce automobile emissions by virtue of their proximity to California which has strict emissions standards.

But, other states are helpless to enact similar standards because their populations are too small to sway manufacturers.

Renstrom also acknowledged that needed lifestyle changes to reduce Americans' reliance on automobiles will be slow to materialize since most US cities were built around cars.

Meanwhile, two dozen US senators, including John McCain and Hillary Rodham Clinton, have also signed a letter to the president asking Bush to reconsider his position.

"We would like you to be aware that a bipartisan majority of the United States Senate has now agreed that human-induced climate change is real and that mandatory steps will be required to slow or stop the growth of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere," the senators said in the letter.

"The United States should, at a minimum, refrain from blocking or obstructing such discussions amongst parties to the convention since that would be inconsistent with its ongoing treaty obligations."

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