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The members of the Alaska Youth for Environmental Action program of the National Wildlife Federation had hoped to present thousands of Alaska youth signatures Monday, but said they had technical difficulties reproducing them.

Their "Letter to our Leaders" demands local and national action on the warming issue through policies curbing greenhouse-gas emissions and providing incentives for renewable energy.

The group wants Juneau to provide an emissions cap and a green building code, Vance said.

"We are really looking at ways to help solve or reduce the problem," Assembly member Jeff Bush said. "I am not sure how we really can make a difference at this point, but we are really open to ideas of how to make a difference at the local level."

Six of Vance's Alaska cohorts are in the U.S. Capitol this week delivering about 5,000 signatures from Alaska teens who signed a "Letter to our Leaders" asking relief from global warming. They state that their lives are affected by rapidly melting glaciers, eroding villages, beetle outbreaks, reduced salmon runs and thawing permafrost.

"We want Juneau to be the role model and leader for dealing with this," Vance said. "This is a very unique place to be and I want to be able to return when I am older and see it well preserved."

The rapid retreat of the Mendenhall Glacier and several bad skiing years at Eaglecrest Ski Area are examples of global warming around Juneau, said Vance, a 16-year-old who skies regularly. She lauded Mayor Bruce Botelho for appointing a panel of local scientists to gather the best data available about the warming trend and its present and possible future consequences for Juneau. Over the last 60 years Juneau's annual average temperature has risen about 3 degrees.

"It is always great to see young people engaged in important topics in the community," Botelho responded.

The teens are part of a grass-roots effort to combat issues such as cruise ship pollution, recycling and toxic chemicals.

Over the past nine months students have toured the state pointing out the effects of global warming and gathering signatures. The letter was started by Verner Wilson, a Yupik Eskimo from Dillingham. Many teens from Southeast Alaska communities have signed the petition, including Prince of Wales Island, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Sitka, Yakutat and Juneau. This is the first time such an effort has been undertaken by a high school student group anywhere in the country.

"Their (Alaska teens) populations are most affected by global warming," said Polly Carr, an educator with AYEA. "Theses kids collected signatures from almost 10 percent of the state's teen population from over a hundred communities in less than three months."