Kaine, O'Malley Urge U.S. Action on Global Warming

The Rev. Richard Edmund said that could spell the end for the towns on Smith Island, where about 225 people live a few feet above high tide. Edmund, who oversees three churches on the island, said he was testifying so his grandchildren would know he had sought to warn others about climate change.

"I want them to know that I did what I could," Edmund said.

Both governors told the committee that their states had taken measures to attack the problem. Maryland has mandated reduced emissions from vehicles and power plants, and Virginia recently announced the goal of cutting emissions 30 percent by 2025.

Both pressed for more drastic moves from the federal government, which has been criticized for doing little while states have launched emissions-reduction programs.

Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), who was at the hearing yesterday, is working with Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) on a bill that would set a national cap on greenhouse-gas pollution and then let companies buy and sell allowances to emit.

One contrary note in the hearing came from Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), who has said he thinks climate change is a hoax.

Inhofe said that the bay's rising waters were caused by natural processes and that the ecosystem would adapt.