Today is the last Earth Day in the dismal environmental presidency of George Bush. So let's make it an election day. After all, no one expects Bush to do anything substantive to combat global warming or address any other big environmental problems in what's left of his administration.

We've watched the glaciers melt long enough. Let's agree, via an energy-saving e-mail vote or by mutual assent, to name former vice president Al Gore "president of the environment." He's earned it. He won the popular presidential vote in 2000 and went on to win a Nobel Prize. His global warming documentary won an Oscar, and he works daily to publicize the need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Gore's term would end upon the swearing in of the nation's next president. But for the next nine months, he could use the bully pulpit to do what Bush hasn't: explain that if global warming is to be slowed and reversed before climate change causes massive suffering, sacrifices will have to be made.

True, Gore would lack the power of a proper president. He couldn't sign executive orders protecting wilderness areas, pardon next year's Thanksgiving turkey or issue signing statements that would undo Bush's signing statements. But he could provide the leadership necessary to get Americans moving together. (Those troubled by the thought of having two presidents could think of him as minister of the environment.)

Here are some things Gore could do and say in the first months of his tenure as environmental president: Air conditioning consumes an enormous amount of energy. Fans use very little. Before temperatures top 100 this summer, Gore could urge Americans to buy a few fans and challenge themselves not use an air conditioner until the temperature tops 85 or 90.

Before Atlanta or some other city runs dry, Gore could request that Americans replace their lawns with hardy native plants, or turn them into gardens like those that supplied almost half the nation's vegetable supply during World War II.

Oil prices topped $117 a barrel yesterday, an all-time high. Gore could use such events to exhort Americans to get rid of their giant SUVs and buy responsible vehicles.

Heating and cooling buildings produces more greenhouse gas emissions than transportation. The environmental president couldn't sign tax breaks for insulation into law, but he could work with Congress to have a bill ready for the next president to sign.

Most Americans do a mediocre to miserable job recycling. Since voluntary efforts aren't getting the job done, Gore could encourage cities and states to adopt mandatory recycling or charge per bag for non-recyclables.

Gore could ask citizens to take a host of simple steps that don't cost much but that, in aggregate, reduce energy bills and pressure on the Earth. Change incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescents or LED lights.

Put in power strips so energy-hogging appliances really are off when they're off. Wash clothes in cold water and use half as much energy - then hang them out to dry. Get a tire gauge and keep the pressure in tires near the recommended upper limit. Walk, bike, carpool or take public transportation whenever possible.

Compared to the size of the problem, these steps can seem insignificant. Taken together, at the urging of an environmental president, they could help get people to change their lifestyle to one that's environmentally sustainable.