Markey: Clean air initiative good step

With global support, there's a chance to make gains in the effort to curb global warming through a multilateral clean air initiative, a U.S. lawmaker said. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced an initiative that aims to reduce levels of short-lived climate pollutants like methane, black carbon, or soot, and hydrofluorocarbons. U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, said cutting short-lived pollutants would have long-term benefits. "If the world signs on to this ambitious agreement, it has the potential to get us one-fourth of the way toward keeping warming below the 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit pledge made by countries worldwide in the fight against climate change," he said in a statement. Environmental groups welcomed the measure but said it fell short by excluding emissions like carbon dioxide. Clinton acknowledged the measure didn't provide a panacea to the climate issue. "There is no way to effectively address climate change without reducing carbon dioxide, the most dangerous, prevalent and persistent greenhouse gas," she said in a statement. Pollutants included in the measure are thought to contribute to climate change. The United States worked with Bangladesh, Canada, Ghana, Mexico and Sweden on the initiative.