Good News
|
Archived Articles
Species on the Brink
Resources at Risk
Good News
Get Outdoors |
Local Governments Move to Limit Global Warming SACRAMENTO, California, July 17, 2002 (ENS) - If the federal government will not act to reduce global warming, maybe the states will. But if the states do not get the job done, a growing number of cities and towns are making it clear they will not hesitate to step up. This is the scenario taking shape in the Golden State, with its long history of leading the nation in environmental protection. Earlier this month, the California State Assembly passed legislation aimed to regulate global warming emissions from cars and trucks - the first such law passed in the United States.
The California Climate bill, passed by a 41-30 vote in the Assembly and a 23-16 vote in the California Senate, seeks to improve air quality in the largest automobile market in the United States. The measure would require the California Air Resources Board to adopt regulations that achieve "maximum feasible" reductions in greenhouse gas emissions for cars, minivans, pickups and sport utility vehicles, starting with 2009 models. California Governor Gray Davis has said he is inclined to sign the bill when it reaches his desk. Meanwhile, several California communities have joined other cities - Seattle and Philadelphia among them - to do their share in reducing greenhouse gases throughout the nation. City Councils in Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Healdsburg, Cotati, Petaluma, and Windsor, California have pledged their support to what is known as the International Cities for Climate Protection Campaign. Acknowledging the threat of global warming, each city council has vowed to take whatever steps it can to reduce greenhouse gases produced by city government. The legislative activism of state government and numerous municipalities counters the Bush administration's decision to withdraw U.S. participation in the Kyoto climate protocol, an international treaty to limit global warming emissions. President George W. Bush quickly distanced himself from last month's Environmental Protection Agency report to the United Nations declaring not only that global warming is real, but that the phenomenon probably is worsened by human activities. Nor has Congress given any indication of making the issue a priority. With less than five percent of the world population, the United States leads the world in global warming emissions. The U.S. produces nearly one-quarter of the total emission of the number one greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.
With some 40 percent of the nation's heat trapping gases emanating directly from vehicle tailpipes, transportation is a principal cause of the country's global warming pollution. In March, the auto industry mobilized to defeat a federal energy bill that would have raised fuel economy standards in cars and trucks. Environmental groups including the Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund and Blue Water Network, which helped to draft the Senate version of the bill, denounced what they viewed as scare tactics and misinformation on the part of the auto industry. Shifting their focus to the state level, the groups in effect made a bet that California would opt to consolidate its reputation for leading the nation in environmental reforms. The state that practically invented smog was the first to fight it with regulations requiring cleaner cars. Concerns that the California greenhouse gas emissions legislation might be adopted by other states has motivated the automobile industry to work hard but unsuccessfully against the measure. City officials in Petaluma and Santa Rosa now are busy identifying measures they can take to reduce greenhouse gases, ranging from installing weather stripping in offices to switching to electric cars for city business. "Elected officials have been amazingly receptive," said Ann Hancock, Sonoma County coordinator of the International Cities for Climate Control Campaign. "They see it's the right thing to do." Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2002. All rights reserved. |
Stuck in San Francisco traffic (Photo S.C. Delaney courtesy 
General Motors EV1 electric car runs on a nickle metal hydride battery and produces no greenhouse gas emissions. (Photo courtesy 