Somebody needs to switch off the air conditioning on Capitol Hill. That may be the only way the current leadership will start feeling the heat on the global-warming issue.

True, a significant number of our U.S. representatives are concerned enough to take steps that could improve air quality and, consequently, slow the pace at which the planet heats up.

Well more than half the membership supports Rep. Henry Waxman's Safe Climate Act, an attempt to reduce emissions nationwide to the point at which, scientists say, we might avert the catastrophic effects of global warming. It's a relief to see that our own congressmen, Reps. Neil Abercrombie and Ed Case, have signed on as co-sponsors.

Of course, Hawai'i and other coastal communities have particular cause for worry. Sea levels have risen about a foot in the past century, according to fact sheets published by the Environmental Protection Agency, and it is getting hotter here, as well. In Honolulu, for example, the average temperature has increased 4.4 degrees over the past century, the EPA reports.

Now, more bad news: Rep. Roy Blunt, the GOP majority whip, has said the bill will not move as long as he has any say — and, of course, he does. Even worse is his frustrating refusal to accept the mountainous evidence that human activities play a significant part in climate changes.

"I think the information is not adequate yet for us to do anything," Blunt said.

That's the voice of political expediency speaking, not reason. It's hard to understand how Blunt and other opponents — including the president — can continue to ignore reports to the contrary, such as from the administration's own experts.

In May, the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, established by President Bush in 2002, published a report stating that research on global warming shows clear evidence of human influences on the climate system.

Insistence that science hasn't shown how much humans affect global warming is simply perverse. Of course, there is also evidence of natural processes playing a part in rising temperatures and other climactic fluctuations. But whether nature or humanity is the dominant agent, shouldn't we do whatever we can to contain the damage and help to reverse a disturbing trend?

It is time for global warming to move up on the national agenda. If House leaders don't want to support Waxman's bill, voters should hold them accountable to begin their own search for solutions.