Sep 01, 2006 13:08
I never thought I'd utter the words, "Go Governor Schwarzenegger!"
"This is the break we've been fighting for.
Yesterday in California, Governor Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders
reached historic agreement on a bill that will place tough controls on that
state's global warming pollution, with the ambitious goal of reducing carbon
dioxide emissions by 25 percent.
It's a spark that could ignite a nationwide chain reaction. With the Bush
Administration still stuck in do-nothing mode on global warming, dozens of
states have been looking to California to lead the way in combating the
greatest environmental threat of our time.
And California has delivered big time. The California Global Warming Solutions
Act will impose new controls on utilities, oil refineries, and other major
global warming polluters, with the ambitious goal of rolling back the state's
emissions to 1990 levels.
Co-sponsored by NRDC and Environmental Defense, this breakthrough bill will put
a market-based system in place that provides incentives to businesses to comply
with the new law and, just as important, that compliance will be closely
monitored.
I don't have to tell you that old-line polluting industries fought this bill
tooth and nail. But thanks to your support, NRDC spearheaded a new and exciting
coalition of clean-tech companies, venture capitalists, local governments,
faith-based leaders and tens of thousands of citizens that won the day.
California's leaders saw the future and it was green. Global warming controls
won't just be great for the environment, they will be great for the state's
economy. This bill will allow California to start breaking its expensive
dependence on fossil fuels and lead a revolution in energy technology that will
create tens of thousands of jobs.
Who can doubt that other states will soon be racing to follow suit? A decade
from now, we'll look back at this historic agreement as the turning point in
America's long-overdue reckoning with catastrophic climate change.
Today the real work begins. NRDC is going to build on this historic victory --
state by state by state -- until the momentum is so overwhelming that Congress
will have no choice but to wake up and act.
Your support and activism has taken us this far. And we'll be counting on you
to stand with us throughout the long fight ahead -- until that inevitable day
when the President of the United States puts his or her signature on national
global warming legislation.
Sincerely,
Frances Beinecke
President
Natural Resources Defense Council"