Climate: Obama lifts California push for change
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger opened his international climate change summit on Tuesday by upstaging himself with an even bigger political star —- President-elect Barack Obama.
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Schwarzenegger, a Republican whose efforts to combat global warming in California have won worldwide acclaim, wants to show that governments can balance environmental protection and economic growth. He hopes his summit will influence talks on a new climate treaty at a U.N. gathering in Poland next month.
In a taped message to the attendees —- from 19 other countries and 17 states —- Obama said his administration is committed to a cause that has all but languished at the federal level during the term of President George W. Bush.
“Once I take office, you can be sure that the United States will once again engage vigorously in these negotiations and help lead the world toward a new era of global cooperation on climate change,” Obama said, warning that the U.S. economy will continue to weaken if climate change and dependence on foreign oil are not addressed.
He reiterated his support for cutting greenhouse gas emissions using a cap-and-trade system, an approach also favored by Schwarzenegger. And he pledged to establish annual targets to reduce emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020 and reduce them 80 percent more by 2050.
Obama also promoted anew his proposal to invest $15 billion each year to support private-sector efforts toward clean energy. He said tackling climate change can create millions of new jobs as the U.S. invests in technologies to promote solar and wind power, biofuels and cleaner coal-fired plants.
“I promise you this: When I am president, any governor who’s willing to promote clean energy will have a partner in the White House,” Obama told the participants. “Any company that’s willing to invest in clean energy will have an ally in Washington. And any nation that’s willing to join the cause of combating climate change will have an ally in the United States of America.”
Scientists say the kind of ambitious goals set by Schwarzenegger and Obama must be reached to minimize the consequences of rising global temperatures.
Schwarzenegger has signed partnerships with governors of seven Western states and four Canadian provinces to develop regional cap-and-trade systems. He also has an agreement with the state of New York to explore linking California’s future carbon market with a trading system in the Northeast.
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