State and Local Action
While
national governments have often been hung up in squabbling over
questions of who does what first in addressing climate change,
municipalities and state and provincial governments from every
region of the world have committed themselves to efforts to limit
emissions of greenhouse gases. This has been distinguished by
actions in at least three areas:
-
The development and implementation of targets
for limiting greenhouse emissions
-
The adoption of policies to promote clean energy - generally
defined as energy efficiency and use of fuels with little adverse
effect on climate and air quality
-
The adoption of coordinated strategies for climate and air
quality protection.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Limitation Targets
Many of these efforts have been carried out through the Cities
for Climate Protection Program of the Toronto-based International Council for Local Environmental
Initiatives (ICLEI). This program was launched in June 1991
during a Conference on Global Change and the Cities convened by
the Climate Institute in Toronto, Canada. The effort was given
further impetus in January 1993 when Dr. Noel Brown, then UNEP's
Regional Director for North America, combined with ICLEI to convene
a World Cities Summit on Climate Change. The Cities for Climate
Protection effort has especially strong traction in Europe but
it also has a significant number of members throughout the Western
Hemisphere, in Asia, Oceania, and Africa.
Clean Energy Promotion
Here actions at the municipal, state and provincial level have
taken many forms, e.g. promotion of energy efficiency in public
buildings to which the state of Tennessee just committed itself,
financial incentives for renewable energy investment as San Francisco
has done to promote solar energy, portfolio standards for clean
energy development, and the change of electric power rules to
enhance the ability of consumers. In North America perhaps the
most concerted efforts have occurred in the US Pacific Northwest
and are documented at the Climate
Solutions site.
Coordinated Strategies for Climate and Air
Quality Protection
In September 1999 the Climate Institute and Instituto Autonomo
de Investigaciones Ecologicas convened a North American Symposium
on Coordinated Strategies for Climate and Air Quality Protection.
This symposium was the occasion for the unveiling of two very
significant studies - one on health implications of air pollution
in major cities of the world on the young prepared by an international
team led by Dr. Devra Davis and the other by the US state and
local air pollution control directors groups on harmonized
strategies for climate and air quality protection.
William
Becker, Executive Director of the State and Territorial Air Pollution
Program Administrators (STAPPA) and the Association of Local Air
Pollution Control Officials (ALAPCO), and Kenneth Colburn, Director
of Air Quality for the State of New Hampshire, discussed the findings
of this study which included an analysis of how this might be
carried out in New Hampshire with little additional cost above
that in seeking to meet current air quality goals.
Drawing on some of the work of the symposium, Mexico City has
already begun to incorporate greenhouse gas limitations into its
long-term air quality plans.
New Hampshire Passes Bill on Air Pollutants
Recently a huge breakthrough occurred in the US when the State
of New Hampshire on May 9 enacted legislation controlling four
air pollutants including carbon dioxide from power plants. This
bill,
the brainchild of Kenneth Colburn, drew strong bipartisan support
as it passed both houses of the state legislature before being
signed by Gov. Jeanne Shaheen. More info
Australia: Major Coal Producing State
Announces Sweeping Climate Protection Plan
Although
the national government in Australia recently announced its refusal
to support ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, sentiment seems quite
different at the state level in this large coal exporting country.
Although
the national government is in the hands of a conservative coalition
re-elected amidst post-9/11 security and immigration concerns,
every one of the Australian state governments is controlled by
the national opposition Australian Labor Party which has endorsed
Kyoto ratification.
On June 5, 2002 Victoria, Australia's second
most populous state and a major coal producer announced a comprehensive
climate protection policy that will invest AUS$100 million in
state funds between now and 2004 in climate protection measures.
These include reducing energy consumption in government buildings
by 15% by 2006, buying 5% of state government electricity from
renewable sources reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the government
fleet by 10% by 2006, purchasing offsets through Greenfleet for
all emissions of government vehicles (Greenfleet uses funds to
plant trees to offset emissions from vehicles), and requiring
all major project developments in Victoria to incorporate high
levels of energy efficiency, institution of solar hot water heater
rebates for consumers and investment of AUS$8.45 million over
the next three years to support small scale renewable development
in Victoria. Besides extensive production of cheap brown coal
which supplies most of its electricity and is a major source of
export earnings, Victoria has a diverse economy including wine
growing and tourism which may be threatened by climate change.
Melbourne is its capital and the highly regarded atmospheric research
unit of the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research
Organization (CSIRO) is located in nearby Aspendale.
Beacon of Hope for States?
Lisa Ruesch
While the Bush Administration and Congress have done little to
address climate change, last summer California Governor Gray Davis
signed two landmark environmental bills-one imposing strict new
limits on greenhouse gases from auto emissions, the other requiring
that a minimum of 20% of California's energy come from renewable
sources, the highest such minimum percentage in the nation. The
bills further solidify California's role as the nation's environmental
trendsetter and trailblazer. These bills, moreover, are building
momentum for similar action in other states. While DC sleeps,
the states are taking charge and setting national policy.
The California Climate Bill authorizes the California Air Resources
Board (CARB) to develop a plan to achieve a "maximum feasible
reduction" of greenhouse gases from cars, light trucks and sport-utility
vehicles which will become effective in 2006. Car makers have
until 2009 to comply with the new standards. CARB will evaluate
a panoply of options including engines that shut down some cylinders
in open-road driving, tighter seals on air conditioning systems,
as well as a host of technologies currently used in Europe, many
of which increase fuel efficiency, performance, or both. Tailpipes
will not be the only means of decreasing greenhouse gases under
the bill: Auto makers will be able to use reductions in pollution
from non-vehicle sources such as manufacturing plants in other
states to meet the California standards. Means that the bill
does exclude include tax increases and lowering speed limits.
In passing the "California Climate Bill," California, the state
which was first to require catalytic converters, unleaded gasoline,
and smog checks, has done what Congress failed to do: demand that
automakers reduce carbon dioxide emissions from cars and light
trucks. In March, a bipartisan team of senators led by John Kerry
(D-Mass) and John McCain (R-Ariz) failed to pass an amendment
that would increase fuel-efficiency standards, in an effort to
reduce greenhouse gases produced by cars and trucks and decrease
dependence on foreign oil. The amendment was defeated by a vote
of 62 to 38. Read more
