"Making concessions to bring this administration into the process at this time is futile. Engagements should be with California and other states and private business," said Steve Sawyer, a climate expert for Greenpeace in Amsterdam.

As US President George W. Bush shuns mandatory caps on emissions, like those in the Kyoto agreement, states on the East and West Coasts and some conglomerates are taking their cues from Europe, the leader in the fight against global warming.

US businesses were among the leading early opponents of the Kyoto protocol, and Bush cited the economic impact of the agreement as a major reason for pulling out.

However, multinationals such as DuPont, Alcoa and IBM have set their own greenhouse gas reduction targets, and seven states imposed mandatory limits on carbon-dioxide emissions, the worst of the heat-trapping gases.

California plans to cut emissions from new cars and trucks by 30 percent by 2016. Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the law's strongest backers.

Such measures could be echoed in New England if California's legislation survives a lawsuit by leading automakers. They could also inspire the Europeans.

"When designing our energy policy, Germany will always look to California because it's the best example," said Barbel Hohn, environment minister in Germany's largest state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IRRELEVANT?

Eighteen US states require that some of their electricity be generated from renewable-energy sources. Furthermore, Republican governors from New York and Massachusetts are leading the creation of a regional emissions-cap system.

"Our federal government could make itself irrelevant on climate change policy," said US Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, a Democrat and Kyoto protocol supporter.

Some see the regulatory writing on the wall. Chemical giant DuPont, which in the 1990s withdrew its support for an advocacy group that opposed fighting global warming, says it slashed its emissions worldwide by 70 percent by 2003 from 1990 levels. That far outstrips the Kyoto target of a 5 percent reduction by the year 2012.

"Our perspective is that we will probably see a future regulatory regime," said Tom Jacob, senior advisor for global affairs.

US companies are beginning to see business opportunities in emissions controls and don't want to lose out to Europe on what promises to be a booming market.

"We are the people who are more engaged in this future market, and therefore we will develop the technology for this market and we will create the jobs," said Germany's Hohn.