Now that the Republican-invented myth that global warming is really just a byproduct of some demented tree-hugging scientist’s dope-induced delusion has been laid bare as the evil lie that it’s always been, it seems people are finally waking up to the fact that something needs to be done — and really, really soon.

But what, many people probably ask themselves, can anyone do to reverse decades of industries, cars, trains and planes spewing planet-warming gases into the atmosphere?

How can one man or woman stop temperatures from rising, glaciers from melting and oceans from swelling?

Well, as the old saying goes, where there’s a will, there’s a way. And it appears that both the public and political will is finally there to act, at least in California, with so many people and their respective legislative representatives now firmly convinced that global warming is very real and needs to be dealt with immediately.

But the best part is that not only do California lawmakers believe global warming is real, they also think it’s reversible and ultimately beatable over a relatively short period of time.

Naturally, with so much more global real estate to conquer in the next two years, don’t look to the warmongering Bush administration to devise any plans to address a global problem that could very well end life on Earth. During his time in office, Bush has shown little else but contempt for Mother Earth, so forget about him doing anything other than more harm to the planet and lots of other living things. Heck, we’ll be happy if Bush doesn’t drop any nuclear bombs before leaving office.

But here in California, lawmakers are taking this global threat seriously — no doubt prodded into action by the ever-growing mountain of incontrovertible evidence — and have proposed a number of measures aimed at reducing emission of global warming gases by half in less than 50 years that are presently wending their way through the Legislature.

This flurry of legislative action comes not a moment too soon. As large as some small countries, California is also not surprisingly the world’s 10th largest emitter of carbon dioxide pollution, the leading cause of global warming.

Four years ago, California set national standards by enacting a law mandating the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from cars, trucks and other mobile sources.

This time around, the Global Warming Act of 2006, or Assembly Bill 32, authored by Democratic House Speaker Fabio Nunez of Los Angeles and Democratic Assemblywoman Fran Pavley of Agoura Hills, targets stationary sources of these types of emissions — power plants, oil refineries and landfills — and seeks to lower pollution by 25 percent by 2020, a goal set last year by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and by 75 percent by 2050.

The California Chamber of Commerce opposes AB 32, primarily because it considers it to be a “job killer.”

We don’t think that’s going to happen. In fact, with the minds, talent and resources available to us for a conversion to clean fuels and clean industries, this legislation will only set examples for the rest of the world to follow and create even more jobs than it eliminates.

We think the only possible killer under this scenario is our planet, which is in the beginning stages of revolt after more than a century of being dumped on by wasteful human beings who thought about bottom lines first and the environment last, if at all.

AB 32 has passed the Assembly and is presently being considered in the Senate. We urge our readers to contact their state senator and encourage him or her to support this bill.

Sen. Sheila Kuehl — (805) 486-3776, (310) 441-9084 or (916) 651-4023. Email: senator.kuehl@sen.ca.gov.

Sen. Tom McClintock — (805) 494-8808 or (916) 445-8873. Email: senator.mcclintock@sen.ca.gov.