NORTHEASTERN GOVERNORS AGAINST GLOBAL WARMING
I was reading an interesting article at Salon.com today. It spoke of how, "in an embarrassing rebuke to the White House, a group of Republican and Democratic governors is embracing the Kyoto accords on global warming."

Specifically, a group of northeastern governors (Democrats and Republicans) are planning to announce an agreement that would reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and implement CO2 limits and a trade regime within the region. This would be an important leap forward in the fight against global warming, and particularly courageous on the part of Republican governors who reportedly have faced heavy pressure from the White House not to participate.

Rather than wait for the president's joke of an energy plan, they've decided to do things themselves. It's federalism the way it's supposed to be. But not surprisingly, some conservatives don't like it; states' rights is only supposed to allow states to resist 'liberal' federal policies. These GOP governors aren't reading the script apparently.

Although it's only a handful of states, it's still very important. First, New England, New York and New Jersey, as a nation, would be the world's 8th largest greenhouse gas emitter, according to the article. New York state, alone, would be the world's 8th largest economy. If these states can successfully pull this off, it will be a terrible rebuke to the fossils in the administration and their fossil fuel allies. But it would relieve our dependance on foreign oil.

Furthermore, it would rubbish the anti-Kyoto argument that reducing pollution will destroy the economy. In fact, those that embrace the reductions would benefit by getting a head start on developing CO2 reduction technologies. The article added, "Best of all, those who implement these sustainable technologies are likely to reap huge economic dividends -- in innovative corporate startups, increased jobs and improvement in quality of life."

Some will counter that China's and India's apparent exemption from Kyoto means we shouldn't be involved either. While substantially smaller polluters than the US, we shouldn't ignore them totally. But we can worry about them later. I don't live in China or India. I do live in New York state. I breathe New York state's air. Let's set the example ourselves. Let's show that what's good for the environment is not only good for our physical health, but also for our economic health.

Again, the excellent article can be found by clicking here.