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Historic Deal on Global Warming in California

Hasta la vista, gass emissions!
Hasta la vista, gass emissions!
California would become the first state to impose a limit on all greenhouse gas emissions, including those from industrial plants, under a landmark deal reached Wednesday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative Democrats. The agreement marks a clear break with the Bush administration and puts California on a path to reducing its emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by an estimated 25 percent by 2020.
The nation’s most populous state is the world’s 12th-largest emitter of greenhouse gases and could suffer dire consequences if global temperatures increase only a few degrees. Reports by state agencies indicate that a 2- to 3-degree rise in temperature could melt the Sierra Nevada snowpack earlier each year, leading to flooding in the Central Valley and threatening the state’s long-term water supply for cities and farms.
Schwarzenegger has tried to position himself as a leader on the issue. Last year, he issued an executive order calling for the state to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 2000 levels by 2010, 1990 levels by 2020 and to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
He organized a team that recommended a statewide cap and last month signed an accord with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in which California and Britain will work together to research cleaner-burning fuels and technologies.
A board will now embark on developing regulations for businesses and industries. The board could impose fees on some industries to pay for new programs that could do everything from requiring truckers to use bio-diesel fuels to forcing farmers to handle animal waste differently.
While some businesses argued that a cap on greenhouse gas emissions would hurt the economy and drive up energy prices, a blog post on the Mother Jones Blog suggests the opposite:
No doubt there’s a downside to this somewhere, but until we find it, it looks a lot like saving our species from extinction comes with an economic bonus: A new University of California-Berkeley study finds that going back to 1990 emission levels would boost the annual Gross State Product (GSP) by $74 billion and create 89,000 new jobs by 2020.

31 August 2006 | 04.49pm (CEST) | posted by Hili | |
TAGS Economic Development & Globalization | Energy & Natural Resources | Environment | Future

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2 Responses to “Historic Deal on Global Warming in California”

  1. dennis baker Says:
    September 2nd, 2006 at 10:19 pm

    When the expression “Hurting the Economy” is used in relation to the introduction alternative forms of energy!

    what it means is it will hurt the folks whom stand to benefit from existing technologies.

    Seems like redistribution of their wealth is really whats at steak.

    A cycle previously seen during the Indistrial revolution….

    YO DA MAN

  2. David Anderer Says:
    September 2nd, 2006 at 11:25 pm

    “Schwarzenegger has tried to position himself as a leader on the issue.”

    Each humam being is the present result of all the decisions of a life time. Our motive for each action is the most critical force in our life.

    We know them by what they do and not what they say. The results of our actions speak to who we really are as a human being.

    We all expect that the political motive for these important actions is for the common good.

    Thank You California for your vision and courage to do what is right and what serves the common good.