The lead story in today's New York Times is on a topic near and dear to my heart, as evidenced by all the articles I've written on the subject here at Raising Kaine. The topic is global warming, and the article's title is "Battle Lines Set as New York Acts to Cut Emissions." According to the Times:
New York is adopting California's ambitious new regulations aimed at cutting automotive emissions of global warming gases, touching off a battle over rules that would sharply reduce carbon dioxide emissions while forcing the auto industry to make vehicles more energy efficient over the next decade.The rules, passed this month by a unanimous vote of the [New York] State Environmental Board, are expected to be adopted across the Northeast and the West Coast. But the auto industry has already moved to block the rules in New York State, and plans to battle them in every other state that follows suit.
Environmentalists say the regulations will not lead to the extinction of any class of vehicle, but simply pressure the industry to sell more of the fuel-saving technologies they have already developed, including hybrid systems that use a combination of electricity and gasoline. And that, they say, will curtail one of the main contributors to global warming.
So why on Earth (emphasis on Earth!) can't we do that here in Virginia? I mean, it's not like we have a significant auto industry here, or a big oil sector, that would be hurt here in the state. And it's not like this would hurt consumers or anything, given that the $1,000 increase in the cost of a new car or truck could be easily "recoup[ed] over time through savings at the pump" or refunded as a tax credit from the state. So why doesn't Virginia join with California, New York, Maine, New Jersey, Vermont, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Pennsylvania on this?
Here's the urgency. According to two new studies published yesterday in the journal, Science:
Levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide are the highest they have been in 650,000 years, according to the first in-depth analysis of tiny air bubbles trapped in an ice core from East Antarctica.Past studies of gases trapped in Greenland and Antarctic ice cores have suggested that Earth's temperature can sometimes change amazingly fast, warming as much as 15 degrees in some regions within a couple of decades.
At the same time, there are concerns about the change of major ocean currents, such as those in the North Atlantic Ocean, that are responsible for the comparatively mild climate of much of Europe.
If that "thermohaline circulation pattern" were to abruptly shut down, as has happened at times in the past, it could plunge much of the European continent into a climate more closely resembling that of central Canada.
Also, according to a team of scientists from Rutgers:
Global ocean levels are rising twice as fast today as they were 150 years ago, and warming caused by human activities appears to be responsible...[...]
The ocean is rising almost two millimeters per year today compared to one millimeter annually for the past several thousand years.
[...]
"The main thing that's changed since the 19th century and the beginning of modern observation has been the widespread increase in fossil fuel use and more greenhouse gases," [Rutgers professor of geological sciences Kenneth] Miller said. "Our record, therefore, provides a new and reliable baseline to use in addressing global warming."
OK, so we've got carbon dioxide concentrations spiking and ocean levels rising rapidly. We've got changes to Earth's climate that we haven't seen in thousands or even (hundreds of) millions of years. And we know exactly what's causing it -- carbon dioxide spewing forth from our cars and SUV's and Hummers. We also know what to do about it. But, of course, George W. Bush is doing absolutely nothing about it. Nor, to date, is the Republican Congress. That's why it's time for the states to act, which is exactly what a slew of them are doing. I say it's high time for Virginia to join them.
P.S. Barack Obama and Evan Bayh -- both potential candidates for President -- are hard at work in the Senate on bills that would slash U.S. oil consumption (and carbon dioxide emissions). According to the environmental magazine Grist, the goal of Bayh's bill is to "reduce America's oil consumption by 2.5 million barrels of oil a day within a decade, and 10 million barrels a day by 2031." Interestingly, the bill is supported by "Set America Free, a coalition of hawks and environmentalists who believe America is funding terrorism with its petro-dollars." In other words, chances for real action by the United States on global warming are improving...but meanwhile the glaciers are melting while Bush fiddles.