RAPID CITY - Global-warming activists have scheduled a rally Saturday at Mount Rushmore designed to urge Congress to make climate change a priority.

Ferale Hubbard of South Dakota Project Hot Seat, Greenpeace's global-warming campaign, said the rally, scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3, is part of a nationwide "Step it Up" call to action to come up with solutions to global warming.

"The reason we chose Mount Rushmore as one of the locations is it's obviously an iconic place. The whole purpose is to call attention to global warming," she said.

South Dakota's congressional delegation has been invited to attend or send a representative or statement in its place.

Hubbard said other rallies are planned in nearly every state on Saturday to demand leadership on global warming. The list of speakers scheduled at Mount Rushmore National Memorial is not final, but Hubbard said the keynote address will be from Pat Spears, president of intertribal council on utility policy (COUP).

"He is a tribal leader and very active in providing clean-energy solutions for the Native American reservations," she said.

Hubbard isn't sure how many people will attend, but last year, during the first Step it Up rally, about 75 people attended the event in Rapid City. She hopes at least that many will show up at the Shrine of Democracy.

"We're not sure. It could be anywhere from 10 to 100. But we're expecting somewhere in the middle," she said.

A subject of ongoing debate, global warming refers to the effect greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide have on climate and global temperature. The carbon from burning fossil fuels becomes trapped in the atmosphere, creating a greenhouse effect that may play a role in extreme storms, droughts and floods worldwide, activists believe.

According to Project Hot Seat's Web site, scientists indicate emissions need to be reduced significantly in the next 10 years to avoid the most dangerous effects of global warming.

Hubbard said her organization promotes increasing renewable energy sources in the country to 20 percent by 2020. Currently, about 11 percent of all energy comes from renewable sources such as wind power. Hubbard said South Dakota is sitting on a renewable energy "gold mine" when it comes to sources like wind power.

"That's actually quite conservative. It's only a 2 percent increase every year," Hubbard said. "We're also promoting a cap on overall global warming pollution - a limit to the amount of pollution that industries can produce - and companies would be rewarded if they are under that limit."

Hubbard said the goal is to reduce carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050. Another goal is to push for more fuel-efficient cars, to the tune of at least 40 miles per gallon. That level of efficiency could save an estimated three to four million barrels of oil per year.

For other national "Step it Up" events, go to www.stepitup2007.org/

Contact Scott Aust at 394-8415 or scott.aust@rapidcityjournal.com