It could happen, and in the not-too-distant future. Experts say global warming is a clear and present danger, and climate change could bring severe and extended drought, excessive heat waves, more wildfires, reduced snow packs and shorter winters to the West.

But Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and leaders in five other Western states and British Columbia will try to put a stop to all that, or at least lessen the effects.

Huntsman signed Utah up for the Western Regional Climate Action Initiative last week. It's a collaborative effort to find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, believed to be the primary cause of global warming, and to do so without damaging the economy. It's a sensible approach that could pay dividends for Utah, and to a lesser extent, for the nation and the world.

By this fall the states will establish individual and regional goals to reduce greenhouse gases. In the fall of 2008, they'll announce a market-based, multi-sector plan to reach those goals. They'll also develop a registry to allow government agencies and businesses to track and manage greenhouse gas reductions.

In addition, the states have pledged to pursue the broad goal of encouraging energy conservation and renewable energy sources, and promised to brainstorm for ways to help citizens adapt to and cope with climate change.

This follows on the heels of another initiative by a consortium of 31 states - the Climate Registry. The governors of the states have vowed to provide an accurate, complete, consistent, transparent and verified set of greenhouse gas emission data, confirmed by an independent third party. The data are deemed necessary for establishing the baseline for programs to reduce emissions.

The governors get it. But the long-dormant federal government, where groundbreaking and Earth-saving measures could have a much wider impact, does not.

Huntsman and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the climate initiative in Salt Lake City last week and said it sends a clear message to Washington. These states are united and they want action. Let's hope the message is received in that spirit.