Sen. John Sununu wants to see more research on climate change before he's sure about how much humans are influencing it.

The position is not so different from the one he took two years ago, when he told the Monitor that he would like to see more studies before supporting a national plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Since then, more than 2,500 scientists from around the world have released reports saying that they are 90 percent certain that humans are contributing to warming and that ecosystems on every continent could be changed before the end of the century. Local modeling forecasts that New Hampshire's climate could feel like Atlanta's by then.

"The best models out there can't calculate precisely how much is human influence and how much isn't," Sununu said last week. "But we need to put a lot of money into climate modeling and research necessary to understand how all the different greenhouse gases . . . impact long-term global temperature."

Critics characterize Sununu as someone who, at best, isn't doing enough to lead on the issue and, at worst, has gotten in the way of potential solutions.

More than 150 New Hampshire communities approved an article that called for the federal government to take action on climate change.

Gregg has broken from the Republican majority several times on climate-related votes and has co-sponsored a bill that would cap carbon dioxide emissions.

"At this point, there's only about three people on the planet who are denying that humans are heating our planet. Two of them are in the White House, and the other one is Sen. Sununu," said Gary Hirshberg, CEO of Stonyfield Farm. "If he's made progress, I'm thrilled to hear it. But he's late, and he's certainly not leading."

Hirshberg had considered running for Sununu's seat because of what he saw as the senator's silence on climate change.

Sununu, who is up for re-election in 2008, said opponents' portrayal of him as a naysayer is inaccurate.

"I have always said that the average temperature is increasing and that there is a human component to that," he said. "I think that's very clear, and I'm sure there are always going to be people out there who are trying to score partisan points that are going to be misrepresenting my statements."

A recent Science article backs up Sununu's contention that there are problems with the climate models. But many of the climatologists interviewed said that, even with the growing error margins they see, global warming is happening and should be addressed.

Sununu said Congress likely will have to pursue legislation to control carbon because a recent Supreme Court ruling regarding auto emissions effectively said carbon dioxide is a pollutant that must be regulated.

While Gregg has made sweeping statements about the dangers of climate change, calling himself "a strong advocate" for regulation of greenhouse gases and saying "the overwhelming scientific data and other evidence about climate change cannot be ignored," Sununu focuses on finer points.

Asked what kind of legislation he would like to see, he reeled off a list of questions he would bring to the debate: How would the standards for carbon emitters be set? What mechanisms would emitters be allowed to use to meet those standards? Which industries would be affected?

Sununu said he supports making all cars and light trucks meet fuel-efficiency standards instead of allowing automakers to meet averages by building some gas-guzzlers and some energy-efficient cars.

He said research on renewable fuels is worthy of government research money, though he voted against a measure in 2005 requiring utilities to use a percentage of renewable energy.

A program to cap power plant emissions but allow the generators to buy and trade carbon allowances is "a logical place to start" because it has worked for controlling other pollutants, he said.

But he voted down the Climate Stewardship Act of 2003, which would have created a cap-and-trade program. Gregg supported it.

The senators also split on an amendment to the 2005 energy bill that would have expressed the Senate's desire for the United States to take action on climate change, with Sununu voting against it.

Sununu said last week that there is little that the United States can do to affect global climate unless major emitters, such as China and India, also take action, which he sees as unlikely. Asked if that meant that the government shouldn't do anything unless those countries do, he referred to the Supreme Court decision.

"Fortunately or unfortunately, we're going to have to pursue this, and we're going to have to get it right," he said. "We're going to have to make it as cost-effective as possible."

Hirshberg said his conversations about climate change with the senator have always left him frustrated with Sununu, whose family was once a shareholder in Stonyfield Farm.

"He's such a parser," the chief executive officer said.

Hirshberg, whose company uses renewable energy, is helping develop a new nonprofit to help consumers monitor what major corporations are doing to reduce carbon emissions. He said business obligations will keep him from running for the U.S. Senate, although he has reserved the option to change his mind.

Portsmouth Mayor Steve Marchand and Katrina Swett of Bow, Democrats who have already entered the race for Sununu's seat, are both talking about climate change.

Marchand said the United States needs an "Apollo mission-type commitment" to reducing carbon emissions. He pointed to his local efforts to run his city's fleet on biodiesel and to build green city buildings. He said he would support regulation that rewards people for investing in new technology to reduce emissions.

For Swett, the time to debate climate change has passed.

"Global warming is real, and most rational people understand that now," she said.

She said she Congress should reconsider a cap-and-trade program.

"We don't know at this particular time how dire the consequences of this temperature increase is going to be," she said. "But we do know that human activity is contributing to it, and it is within our power. . . to dial back our level of producing greenhouse gases."

Sununu said he wants to understand the risks and benefits of doing that.

"With any regulation, I think the goal needs to be to craft it in a way that ensures the benefits match the cost," he said.

Climate policy advocates say the consequences of inaction are nearly cataclysmic and that their costs are hard to measure. They also argue that the United States can't push China or India to take action until it makes changes domestically.

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By CHELSEA CONABOY

Monitor staff