Bush "has a fabulous opportunity to be the guy to lead us," said Inglis, because making the air cleaner should be important to everyone, not only those who agree that human activity partially causes rising temperatures around the world.

Inglis, R-S.C., said this state is at risk of falling below clean air standards, which would mean losing federal highway funds and making it more difficult to get permits for industrial plants.

Inglis has proposed "reinventing" the car so it runs on hydrogen. Developing the vehicle in South Carolina would bring jobs to the state while improving national security by easing this country's dependence on foreign oil, he said.

Global-warming issues

Inglis returned from his research trip to Antarctica, New Zealand, Australia and Hawaii even more strongly convinced that car and power plant emissions contribute "significantly" to global warming.

He is chairman of the House Science Committee's research subcommittee, which decides federal funding for global warming and marine biology programs that employ 1,400 researchers in Antarctica. Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., and several others also were on the trip.

Inglis, who also is a co-chairman of the 41-member Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Caucus, said he would continue to push for the federal government to make a commitment to the "hydrogen economy."

"The world is looking to us to supply leadership," he said, "and we have to meet that challenge."