A new federal report that identifies greenhouse gas emissions as the likeliest cause of global warming - endorsed by the secretaries of Energy and Commerce, along with the President’s chief science advisor – could represent a shift in climate change policy for the Bush Administration, environmental groups claimed this week.

The report, titled "Our Changing Planet: The U.S. Climate Change Science Program for Fiscal Years 2004 and 2005", looks at the ways in which climate change affects agriculture, along with natural and social environments and other areas.

"The Bush Administration's long over-due admission, in a new report to Congress, that global warming both exists and poses risks to people and the environment is a welcome step in the right direction,” said WWF’s Katherine Silverthorne. “But belated recognition of a long-established scientific consensus on human-caused warming only helps if it leads to solutions."

"We call on President Bush to re-examine his passive climate policy and to propose measured but ambitious policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through standards and incentives that will improve energy efficiency and accelerate the commercialization of clean energy technologies," added REP America’s Jim DiPeso.