We know from the recent election that environmental reform will not come from a federal level, but perhaps we don't need it to. Last year, the governors of California, Oregon, and Washington formed the West Coast Governors' Global Warming Initiative. The initiative has these priorities:
- hybrid vehicle procurement for government fleets
- ports & highway diesel emission reduction
- renewable energy incentives
- energy efficiency improvements
- standardized measurement of emissions to quantify the problem, and the progress
The initiative also formed an advisory group which recently completed the Oregon Strategy for Greenhouse Gas Reductions, and invites comments on it from the public. We've already seen what leverage California alone carries; with more states banding together like this, the leverage could become overwhelming.
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Good news, especially now that Bush is still in power. Hopefully this will spread to more states.
Posted by: Mikhail Capone on 5 Nov 04
This utterly rocks!
Posted by: Stefan Jones on 5 Nov 04
Several state attorneys general along with NYC have filed suit against five power companies for contributing to global warming. So yep, I think it's a movement.
"The states - citing resistance from the federal government - are banding together to force the utility companies to cut their carbon dioxide emissions by at least 3 per cent per year for 10 years...The plaintiffs - which also include California, Connecticut, Iowa, New Jersey, New York state, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin - say the federal government has failed to take action on the problem."
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996194
Posted by: Emily Gertz on 6 Nov 04
Thanks for the link.
Hah! The Blue States strike back!
Posted by: Stefan Jones on 6 Nov 04
