Earth Equity News

Cut the Sprawl, Cut the Warming. Editorial, NYTimes, October 7, 2008. "For years, while Washington slept, most of the serious work on climate change has occurred in the states, and no state has worked harder than California. The latest example of California's originality is a new law -- the nation's first -- intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by curbing urban sprawl and cutting back the time people have to spend in their automobiles... The measure is the latest in a string of initiatives from the California Legislature, including a 2002 law that would greatly reduce carbon emissions from automobiles, and a 2006 law requiring that one-fifth of California's energy come from wind and other renewable sources... Given California's size, these and other initiatives will help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Even more progress would be made if others follow. New York and 15 other states have already said they will adopt California's automobile emissions standards when the federal government gives them the green light -- which the Bush administration has stubbornly refused to do. There is, of course, no substitute for federal action or for American global leadership on climate change, both of which the next president will have to deliver."