California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger welcomes more than 600 climate change leaders from across the country and around the world today for the opening sessions of the Governors' Global Climate Summit. The goal of this 2-day event is to create a framework ahead of next month's United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland. The other Governor's co-hosting the event are Florida Governor Charlie Crist, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, and Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius.
The Global Climate Summit's home page is here. The following overview is from the site:
The purpose of the Summit will be twofold. The first is to facilitate a high-level meeting between governmental "climate leaders" and to conclude a cooperative Summit Declaration on climate solutions (such as the examples described above). The second is to discuss the outlook for a comprehensive global agreement on climate solutions that prevents the world passing the "tipping point" as described by the IPCC.
To accomplish these goals and to provide context from a broad variety of stakeholders, invited participants will be the leaders on climate policy and technical solutions, including:
- Governors/Premiers from the U.S. Brazil, Mexico and Canada, and other high-level state/provincial policy makers from "climate leadership" states/provinces
- Representatives of the provinces and central government of China
- Chief Ministers from the states of India
- World leaders representing other national and sub-national governments
- Representatives from non-governmental organizations
- Academic leaders from around the world
- Business leaders
President-elect Obama recorded a short video to be played for the attendees. He emphasized his enthusiasm for the Poznan Conference and promised that his administration would mark a "new chapter in American leadership on climate change."
"Few challenges facing America -- and the world -- are more urgent than combating climate change," he said. "Many of you are working to confront this challenge....but too often, Washington has failed to show the same kind of leadership. That will change when I take office."
My personal hope is that the President-elect and this bipartisan group of Governors will set an example for all of us. It will take all of us working together to successfully address our common objectives. The time for getting things done is now.
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Comments: 31
I also liked that the President-elect made a point of doing the video to show his support for efforts to deal with the issue. Given that he isn't even in office yet, it's encouraging.
faith in. Here is a shameless flip-fliopping politician who moves what he
stands for at the drop of a hat in order to stay elected, based on image.
He has no ideas himself that have not been rejected by the public, and
the fact that he stays around in politics to me means that all he wants to
do it please some people so at some point he has enough political capital
to screw us over with some other dumb idea of his or something elses's.
The idea that this musclebound moron was put in place by going through
all the effort to recall Gray Davis, and all he can do is talk and barely keep
himself in office while not succeeding at anything is amazing. It is only
because he is a moviestar ... that is pathetic.
His visions are old and stale, this hydrogen thing that he pushes is pure
politics, and his idea of owning 8 or however many Hummers that he has,
whatever their fuel source is enough to tell you what he is about.
Why are citizens so damn stupid?
David (to Ellen): "WalMart has been doing several things to be more "green." Some of it got started to distract people from labor problems they were having, but most of it appears to be genuine."
Wal-Mart CEO, Lee Scott, recently addressed suppliers in China, at a sustainability conference, which Wal-Mart organized. If you have a few moments, his comments leave no doubt that the corporation is very serious about addressing climate change, as well as environmental issues in general. Wal-Mart's efforts were endorsed by Al Gore a couple of years ago. As David suggests, Wal-Mart has labor issues that are real, but I don't think there is any doubt that the corporate giant is on the level re: its sustainability efforts. In short, I think Wal-Mart's presentation at this conference will be very encouraging.
Climate change is an area that I think is ripe for non-partisan action. The only split may be over the nuclear option - and with democrats in power, I look for the emphasis to be on renewables and efficiency technology.
http://www.uctv.tv/climate
Still, I have not been following his gubernatorial career that closely (I'm an opposite coast guy), so can't really comment on his effectiveness.
It should be noted that the REACH program here in Europe (and why I'm parked at the moment in Brussels) will also change the supply chain dynamics of thousands of chemicals. Some will fall off the market (along with some of the small companies that make them), though not always because they are riskier - much of it is simply because the smaller companies can't afford to meet all the registration obligations (testing, etc.).
I should write an article on that issue.
Are we now known as the "Only the States With Governor's With Political Ambitions"? The logic of 5 states meeting with foreign countries escapes me.
On the other hand, meeting to prepare for a UN Conference is a harmless exercise, since little is usually accomplishes at these boondoggles.
On the other hand, California has a bigger economy than all but only 9 countries, so perhaps it has a stake in the outcome. In addition, this is an environmental issue, and California has always been out in front of the rest of the country on big environmental decisions.
The effectiveness of the UN is debateable, and certainly has been debated ad nauseam. Their track record dealing with inter-nation conflict is mixed (to be nice). But as an international body it should be playing a larger role in global issues such as the ones being discussed at the Summit.
"The only time in my political career that I have plundered is when I didn't listen to Maria."
Well, make that two times (at least), Schwarzzie, for your candidate (McCain) LOST.
I realize that Schwarzzie is a Republican, but he has come through for California in a number of ways. He stood down Bush on the off-shore drilling, telling Bush that Californians did not want it, for one thing.
I also appreciate his hosting of this summit.
I noticed -- regretfully so -- that George W. Bush was ignoring California when it came to certain requests, or at the very least making it difficult to receive Federal funding, however when Schwarzzie sat down in the driver's seat, all of that changed, and it changed instantaneously. I seriously doubt that the Federal emergency funding for the 580 freeway collapse, and the Federal disaster funding for the California fires would have occurred so quickly, and been so seamless, if the Governor had been Gray Davis, or another Democratic Governor. Sad, but true. Were it to be a Republican, I'd rather Schwarzzie than anyone else that comes to mind.
Then too, it is like Maria [Shriver] says,
"Arnold is really a Democrat. He just doesn't know it."
She knows him much better than do I.
Kudos to him on the Summit.
. . .and is that correct, David? I thought California had the 9th largest economy in the world. Have we slipped to number 10 in the last few months?
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