Even if you’re from Kansas, you can still help stop global warming.

That was the message Thursday afternoon from a Washington environmental lobbyist at the Dole Institute of Politics.

Rafe Pomerance, a Democrat, said Republicans in control of federal government place a lighter emphasis on environmental issues. He urged Kansas University students to act on their political passions.

“People who tend not to vote on these issues are absolutely crucial (to) the world making progress,” he said.

Pomerance, a deputy assistant secretary for environment and development during most of the Clinton administration, spoke to about 30 Kansas University students and others.

His lecture was part of a study group seminar called “A Citizen Can” led by Karen McCarthy, a senior fellow at the Dole Institute and a former U.S. congresswoman from Missouri.

Pomerance said the Climate Policy Center concentrates mainly on controlling carbon dioxide emission standards for fossil fuels. It also aims to make sure the right scientific research and development is done.

“We have to have mechanisms in place that allow more efficient energy systems to be built rather than less efficient,” he said.