While George W. Bush is doing nothing on global warming, states are increasingly starting to take action. Here are some interesting maps, courtesy of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, which illustrate clearly where things are going on. The first map, to the left, represents "States with Greenhouse Gas Emissions Targets." One state that jumps out at me is Florida, which has been governed by Republicans for some time now:
On July 13, 2007, Florida Governor Charlie Crist issued Executive Order 07-127, which established statewide GHG emission reduction targets of 2000 levels by 2017, 1990 levels by 2025, and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
Also, the Republican governor of California, Ah-nuld Schwarzenegger, "signed the Global Warming Solutions Act, AB 32, which capped the state's GHG emissions at 1990 levels by 2020."
See the "flip" for more maps, and note that most of them do NOT include Virginia. That obviously needs to change.
This map is particularly interesting. Note that just about every state outside of the South is a member of a regional climate change initiative. This includes "red" states like Idaho, Montana, Nebraska and South Dakota. Again, where's Virginia?
There's a long way to go in this area: "States with a Carbon Cap or Offset Requirement for Power Plants." Good luck getting that one past Dominion Power, which is so powerful in Virginia that it writes its OWN regulation bill! Unbelievable.
Finally, a map that includes Virginia, thanks to "'Virginia Energy Plan,' completed in 2007." The only problem is, this plan doesn't even come close to the 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say is necessary to avert climatic disaster. Instead, the plan has Virginia's greenhouse gas emissions back at 1990 levels by 2025. That's a start, but again, it's not even close to what's needed.
Here's a key map, depicting "States with Renewable Portfolio Standards." On the bright side, Virginia has a renewable portfolio standard. On the FAR-less-than-bright side, Virginia's standard is pathetic (12% of 2007 sales by 2022 - wow!) and also purely voluntary on the part of utilities. In other words, it's almost worse than nothing.
In sum, many states are taking action to combat global warming. Unfortunately, by and large, Virginia isn't one of them.
With Gov. Kaine willing to take only baby steps so far, we need the new Democratic Senate to push the climate issue hard. Of course, we do have a few folks who campaigned hard on environmental issues in the last election -- Chap, Margi, can we count on you to lead Virginia to a carbon-neutral future?
And what exactly does it mean if a state is not a member of a regional group, but is An Observer?
On the "observer" status, I think it means that the state hasn't completely bought into the group's goals, but they want to keep an eye what's going on. I'm sure it varies state by state as to what the exact motivations are.
And much as I'd like to put all the blame on Republicans, Democrats have so far been afraid to step up to the plate. Look at Gov. Kaine's energy plan -- it doesn't even cut carbon emissions from current levels, only hoping to slow the growth of emissions.
And so it goes in the great state of Virginia...