(CBS) Florida is now following California to find ways to reduce greenhouse gases. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist called a two-day summit meeting and asked California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to be the keynote speaker.

Some people might be surprised to learn that this charge is being led by two Republicans, but both men said the issue is so pressing that it should know no party lines.

"Well I think that there's still a lot of people that still think that the world is flat," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger R-Calif. told The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith. "But the bottom line is that we know thousands and thousands of scientists have come out and said that this is real. We've created this mess and now we have to change. If we act quickly to really stop the global warming — and that's what we want to do, we want to jump into action. Whenever you see a problem, don't think and debate forever. Let the debates come, but at a certain point you have to act and that's what California did."

Crist says the debate is also important for his state because of where it is located.

"It's incredibly important for Florida because look we're a peninsula, we're out in the ocean. Leaders in the Southeast have really not latched on to this. We feel a responsibility and a duty to do so," he said. "We want to reduce the carbon emissions; we want to reduce the greenhouse gases. Florida is a beautiful state like California. We want to protect her and we want to do what's right so future generations of Floridians can enjoy what we're enjoying today."

The most recent warnings from the Union of Concerned Scientists say that it's just a matter of decades before Florida loses part of its coastline, putting many of its beautiful beaches may be under water. Crist said that even if someone doesn't believe the scientists, taking action will help the environment anyway.

"So why wouldn't you do it? It makes sense. It is common sense and it's the right thing to do. It protects Florida and it protects our planet," he said.

Schwarzenegger said that it's important to act soon because the signs are apparent now, not 10 or 20 years in the future.

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Photos: Arnold Schwarzenegger

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"We see it now in California with the fires," he said. "We usually have the fires starting end of summer, beginning of the fall. We now have a year round fire season. We've had so many fires already this spring. So we see global warming, we see it with the melting of the snow packs, reducing the floods in the winter, less drinking water in the summer. So we have to act now."

Most importantly, this is not an issue for Republicans or Democrats, Crist said it's a people issue and matters to everyone.

"It really shouldn't matter what your party is," he said.

"The only thing I have to add is — and you have to admit — that when you're Republican you get more attention if you do something that's an environmental issue," Schwarzenegger said. "Because people are, 'They're Republicans! What's going on here?' So it creates more news."

Many people within Crist and Schwarzenegger's party say that taking extra precautions for the environment is bad for business. But Crist said "there is gold in green."

"There are so many innovative, new entrepreneurial opportunities that will stem from this — it's amazing," he said. "New innovations will sprout from this and create new opportunities for more people, different ways to develop cars, different ways to utilize appliances, solar technology that we can learn from and benefit from economically."

"We are changing from the industrial revolution to the green clean revolution," Schwarzenegger said. "The green clean technology is the new revolution. The Wall Street Journal just called California the new gold rush, because of the new technologies that we're developing, because of the standards that we're setting, because of the cap in trade that we're setting — all those kinds of things."

Crist said Washington, D.C., doesn't have the same sense of urgency that he and Schwarzenegger do because politicians in D.C. are not connected to the people the way they are as governors.

"You know, as I travel around Florida, and I'm sure as the governor travels around California, the response is overwhelming," he said. "People want this and they want us to respond and lead in the best way we know how. That's exactly what we are trying to do here. All I can do is speak for Florida and you know if Washington comes along — that's great, but in the mean time we have a duty as governors of large states to do what we can."

Schwarzenegger said that the United States extends far beyond the capital.

"Washington is one city so what we want to do is, since Washington is not responding, we're going to go and form partnerships with the cities, and with the counties and with the states. We come together and we're going to go and send the signal to the rest of the world that we're getting our act together," he said.

For two years California has been battling the Environmental Protection Agency to either force the federal government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or be allowed to do it themselves. A Supreme Court ruling in April rebuked the Bush administration for not doing more. Schwarzenegger is not sure how much longer he can wait for the EPA and the White House.

"Well, as we have told them this spring that our clock is ticking and, so, come this fall, October, we are going to sue," Schwarzenegger said. "There are no two ways about that because we are not going to wait. My preference is if the federal government comes in it is our partner. Always with everything. We never want to fight the federal government, we always want to be partners with the federal government and on many issues the federal government has been a great partner for us if it's health care and other issues, but in this particular case we are going to fight the federal government, because we have no choice."

Crist said he spoke with Sen. Bill Nelson, R-Fla., who is working with Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., to speed up the process. They would add an amendment to an EPA appropriations bill that would say the agency must respond to California and Florida

"Hopefully they can get that amendment passed, but if they don't we will partner with our friends from California and make sure we get this action done," Crist said.

"Yes," Schwarzenegger said. "We're partners."

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