It seems as though the Governator has taken on a new kind of superhero role ““ as a new martyr for the environment, a modern-day Captain Planet to save us from the lagging legislation of the federal government.
Last week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ““ along with Southern California Edison and FPL Energy ““ announced two huge solar installation projects to boost our state’s total use of solar power from 965 megawatts to 1,465 megawatts.
These projects are designed to reinforce California’s goal of obtaining 20 percent of its electricity from renewable resources by 2010.
With that deadline fast approaching, the state government is making a commendable effort to keep issues of global warming and climate change within a sober perspective, while our federal government continues to lag behind.
Schwarzenegger has recognized the two projects to be a substantial step in working toward California’s long-term goals for renewable energy and tackling climate change, as they will contribute an additional 500 megawatts to California’s solar power.
Southern California Edison plans to place 65 million square feet of photovoltaic cells (or solar panels) throughout Southern California. And FPL Energy’s “Beacon Solar Energy Project” will place a 250-megawatt plant in eastern Kern County near Bakersfield.
But while environmental issues create a hot political topic at the state level, the federal government continues to lag on taking steps toward environmental activism.
In 2001 President Bush chose to abandon the Kyoto Protocol, stating his actions were to protect the U.S. economy. He has received harsh criticism from other world powers for his actions.
Since 2001, the federal government has also stalled on making any substantial progress toward addressing the climate-change problem.
The Kyoto Protocol ““ as signed by members of the European Union, Japan and hundreds of other nations ““ seeks to reduce emissions of six key greenhouse gases by at least 5 percent by the year 2012.
Currently, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is in the works of a revision to the Kyoto Protocol, with plans to include Bush into the equation.
In recent years, Congress has introduced legislation such as the “Energy Policy Act of 2005″ and the “Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act of 2007″ in an attempt to bring the topic of global warming into the federal political arena.
Both acts proposed to reduce greenhouse gases either by establishing a cap on carbon emissions or by creating a “tradeable allowances” system.
But these acts ““ after undergoing the excessive weight of red tape and the plight of indecisive legislators ““ have proved to be nothing more than eco-friendly fodder to add to politicians’ resumes.
And these politicians include the current 2008 presidential candidates. Both Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and Republican John McCain have stated they support a cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon emissions.
And while this system may not have a dramatic impact on the reduction of greenhouse gases within the near future, at least all three candidates admit global warming is in part due to man-made causes ““ a baby step toward having the U.S. ratify anything along the lines of the Kyoto Protocol.
California is again one step ahead of our federal government. Schwarzenegger signed the Global Warming Solutions Act in 2006, which outlined very similar goals to those of the Kyoto Protocol.
For now, Southern California’s initiative to amp up solar power has proven to be the biggest leap toward utilizing alternative energy. And our very own Captain Planet is using his governmental superpowers ““ along with his legislative Planeteers ““ to create a California environment with greener pastures.
The new solar projects will provide enough electricity for hundreds of thousands of homes and related utilities in California, thereby creating renewable-resource projects at the necessary size and scale to have an impact throughout the state.
The current projects have come at an opportune time ““ currently, the average price of gasoline throughout the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is around $3.60, about 43 cents more expensive than it was last year.
Although we remain unclear as to the environmental future for our national government, at least we can rest assured that substantial action is being taken at the local and state level to reduce the use of carbon emissions and to utilize renewable energy.
E-mail Chung at lchung@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.