Climate Policy Watch

As efforts to address climate change gain bipartisan steam in the Northeast, Republican state administrations are increasingly trying to take the lead on the controversial environmental issue without alienating the White House and conservatives who oppose mandatory greenhouse gas controls.

In recent weeks, officials in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts -- three states with Republican governors -- have passed legislation to reduce greenhouse gases and implemented executive climate change programs.

Free-market advocates have formed a new coalition to counter environmentalists and their Democratic allies, suggesting some Republicans are worried that the proliferation of anti-Bush special interest groups may be affecting the presidential election.

"It certainly reflects the acknowledgment and even the concern that these well-funded, pro-Democrat groups are going to have a big impact, and that their actions need to be answered by the Right," says a source with the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), a non-partisan group that tracks campaign finance.

Southern Company's new agreement to conduct an "honest assessment" of its risks from climate change and other environmental issues could mark a major turning point if the assessment leads to action at one of the nation's largest electric utilities, investor groups and environmentalists say. However, Southern Company says its agreement is more in line with its corporate governance practices than a belief that it needs to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.