The mud was slung; the votes were counted, and last week’s
recall ended without incident in a stupefying landslide. Gov.-elect
Arnold Schwarzenegger will now have to produce results to mend a
fractured state. And while he can do no worse than Gray Davis when
it comes to the budget, he will need to demonstrate unusual
Republican compassion to continue on the path to cleaner air in
California.
However little Schwarzenegger has actually said about the
environment, his Web site (www.joinarnold.com) promises everything
from a 50 percent statewide air pollution cut to investment in
hydrogen highways by 2010. As unfortunate as it is inevitable, when
Schwarzenegger finally “opens the books” he will likely
discover that there is not enough money for everything he promised
to ensure California’s air quality.
Schwarzenegger will have two choices at that point. He can
either live up to his campaign promises, being the social liberal
most voters believe he will be, or he can succumb to the dark side,
seduced by President Bush and his environmentally destructive air
policy. California has historically had the strictest clean air
laws in the nation, and Schwarzenegger must not follow Bush’s
lead if he intends to maintain the state’s air quality.
Bush’s newly amended Clear Skies initiative aims to reduce
significantly power plant emissions of three major pollutants
““ sulfur dioxide, mercury and nitrogen oxide ““ over the
next 15 years. On the surface this plan has all the political
pretensions of a sound environmental initiative, but in actuality
it is nothing more than an insulting PR move.
First of all, the schematics of the plan are flawed. Bush wants
to mandate national limits for how much of each global warming
compound is allowed each year while allowing businesses to get
around this mandate by trading pollution credits ““ the amount
each plant is allowed to pollute. This free-trade, American-pride,
market-system way of thinking undermines the idea that all plants
must cut emissions. The bottom line is that old plants could
legally continue to pollute at standard or even accelerated levels
under the Bush plan. More importantly, the plan would effectively
reward the worst polluters by giving them a market edge over their
more expensive, environmentally friendly competitors. This type of
sidestepping may sound fine and dandy to your average corporate
businessman, but it’s a slap in the face to the environment,
the supposed beneficiary of this initiative.
The other major problem with the greenhouse emissions plan is
that it does not address one of the biggest greenhouse gases:
carbon dioxide. Republicans such as Congressman Joe Barton,
R-Texas, claim that attempts to require lower carbon dioxide levels
would undermine the United States’ economic stability, making
for an unreasonable ambition. This unwillingness to sacrifice is
the real face of compassionate conservatism in America.
Schwarzenegger must break away from his party on this issue. He
was elected based on the assumption that his tenure will be both
fiscally responsible and socially compassionate ““ he was
elected to challenge the status quo.
In order to enact this dual-edged agenda, Schwarzenegger must
openly condemn Bush’s Clear Skies initiative. Because it
stacks the system in favor of polluters and does little to change
individual standards, this initiative is neither economically fair
nor socially proactive.
Schwarzenegger’s entire campaign was based on taking
California back for the people ““ not for soulless
corporations. But while he is likely being naive about what he will
realistically achieve without new taxes and deep cuts, there is
still hope that Schwarzenegger will keep his word on something as
important as the air we breathe.
Politicians like President Bush would have the world divided
into party lines, especially now that a Republican somehow got into
Sacramento. Such politicians manipulate the issues to appear to be
doing much more for the environment than they actually are.
Hopefully, after Schwarzenegger’s term, we will be able to
look back and see him for what he promised to be: a compassionate
Republican who will spare us from dealing with another Hollywood
action hero until his next bad movie.
Moon is a second-year psychology student. E-mail him at
jmoon@media.ucla.edu.