Editorial: California shows the way

Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2006 | 7:22 a.m.

The same California board whose strong clean-air standards have served as models for regulations adopted by the federal government will soon be tasked with developing even stronger standards in an effort to cut down on global warming.

A mandate to reduce the state's greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2020 was passed last week by the California Legislature, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger promised to sign the bill this month.

It will be the job of the California Air Resources Board to develop methods for the state's industries, including power plants and oil refineries, to cut their emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases. These emissions gather in the atmosphere and trap heat, preventing the Earth from ventilating itself.

The board will be among the most powerful government entities in the country, as it will have not only the authority to enforce emission controls, but also will have the authority to collect fees to pay for the new controls and enforcement.

"They have stunning new authority over most of the economy - if you use energy, you will be affected," a spokeswoman for California manufacturers told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Global warming is obviously negatively affecting the Earth's climate. And as climate affects all life on Earth, what could be more important? We support California as it undertakes this strong effort to develop programs and technologies to confront this major threat to our existence.

The Chronicle quoted scientists as saying that even if California reaches its goal, it will have cut only 1 percent of the world's harmful emissions. But the point is that California has staked out a leadership position, one that should have been taken by the Bush administration but which in fact was ignored.

Just as California led the way on catalytic converters for automobiles in the 1970s, when theories of global warming were being developed, it is now taking the lead as those theories have all but been proven. Businesses in the state will bitterly complain and conservatives in denial of global warming will label the Republican Schwarzenegger as a turncoat. But leaders bear such burdens in the interest of charting the correct path.

Now it is up to other states, including Nevada, to follow California's lead and join in, so that by 2020 much more than just 1 percent of the problem has been eradicated.