SAN JOSE, CA - By early next year, 100 Silicon Valley business executives will be driving high-mileage plug-in hybrids, a testament to the seriousness of global warming and the earnestness of local leaders to help fight it, according to the San Jose/Mercury News.

One hundred might sound like a small number, but it's actually a huge step: It would more than double the number of plug-ins, which get more power from electricity than a typical hybrid, on North American roads.

The Silicon Valley Leadership Group and its chief executive, Carl Guardino, who organized the plug-in push, see the plug-ins as a starting point for their broader mission: to make the region a leader in conservation, in the use of alternative fuels and in reducing global warming; and to exert the valley's influence when it comes to pushing governments and big corporations to act to solve these problems, according to the San Jose/Mercury News.

That is a key part of the group's 11th annual projections report, due to be released Monday. The 52-page document, titled Clean & Green, also suggests that if 3 percent of light-duty vehicles were replaced locally by plug-ins, about 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide would be eliminated each day. Getting rid of older vehicles, increasing transit ridership and encouraging more people to walk or bike might eliminate an additional 6,000 tons of pollution daily.