And that could be a good thing for the rest of the country, too, as what happens in California, unlike Las Vegas, generally does not stay in California. From auto design to politics, the country's most populous state tends to be a trend-setter, and we can only hope this is also true of it's environmental policy.
Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and leaders of the state's Democratically controlled Legislature have agreed to a plan to limit greenhouse gas emissions in the state from industrial sources, including utility plants, refineries and cement kilns. The impressive goal is to cut all emissions by about 25 percent by 2020.
California's bold move directly affects Utah because the coastal state has already declared it won't buy electricity from plants that don't control greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. If Utah power plants continue to produce power the traditional way by burning coal, California's policy could cost Utah as much as $107.4 million per year in coal sales and $19 million in tax revenue annually.
The bipartisan agreement in the Golden State is another welcome departure from the federal policy of either ignoring or downplaying the very existence of global climate change and the role of human-caused emissions in creating a looming worldwide crisis. Many businesses and state governments are rightly cleaning up their operations to save on energy expenses and cut their contributions to climate change, even without government edicts.
The Bush administration has a deserved reputation for ignoring or distorting widely accepted scientific warnings that the industrialized world must curtail greenhouse gas emissions or suffer the consequences of melting ice caps and extreme weather patterns.
In Utah, shortened winters could threaten the $872 million ski industry, one of the state's most profitable.
Other governments, including in Utah and Washington, D.C., would be wise to emulate California's new policy. The Earth, and humankind's place on it, may depend on everyone following suit.
