Germanic Understatement: Schwarzenegger Says: "There Is Not Great Leadership From The Federal Government When It Comes To The Environment."

Gov. Schwarzenegger, P.M. Blair announce Calif.-U.K. Climate Change Pact

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif., and British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced plans for a climate change agreement that could lead the way for a transatlantic market in carbon emissions, Greenwire reported. The California-U.K. deal also includes a commitment to share alternative-energy technologies. Wrote the Associated Press: "A main target of the agreement between Britain and California is the carbon dioxide from cars, trucks and other modes of transportation."

A copy of the agreement, read to Greenwire during a telephone interview, said, "The U.K. will share best practices on emission trading and lessons learned in Europe. California and the U.K. will also explore potential for linkage between our market-based mechanisms that will better enable the carbon market to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy." The San Francisco Chronicle quoted Schwarzenegger as saying: "We think there is not great leadership from the federal government when it comes to the environment."

Wrote The Guardian: "Downing Street made no attempt to disguise the fact that the deal is designed to get round Republican objections to states imposing mechanisms to cut carbon emissions. With other US states also interested or involved in carbon trading markets, the path is being opened to bring US business into international efforts to fight climate change, even though international progress has been stymied by the Bush administration's refusal to sign up to binding targets in the Kyoto protocol. … The prime minister wants to create a coalition of the willing among those US states prepared to join the European Union's carbon trading scheme."

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Associated Press , Greenwire, National Public Radio, Reuters , July 31; The Guardian , San Francisco Chronicle (Schwarzenegger tightrope) , San Francisco Chronicle (California, U.K. deal) , Los Angeles Times , Aug. 1.

EEI is reporting on a meeting yesterday among Blair, Schwarzenegger, and CEOs of major companies who met -- absent anyone from the WH, where, every single person, apparently, had "scheduling conflicts" -- to try and figure out what to do about carbon emissions and their impact on the global climate. Sure, Schwarzenegger's trying to position himself to beat Angelides, who plans to make energy an issue in the upcoming election. And, sure, Blair is Bush's poodle and enabler.

But that's kind of the point, isn't it? Even Bush's friends realize that something must be done and they're having to "get round Republican objections to states imposing mechanisms to cut carbon emissions," . . . "even though international progress has been stymied by the Bush administration's refusal to sign up to binding targets in the Kyoto protocol."

Strange, isn't it, that a supposedly pro-business junta is making it difficult "to bring US business into international efforts to fight climate change" even though US businesses are clearly interested in joining that effort?

Oy.