There is an important Associated Press article supporting my position on the importance of strong environmental leadership for the future of the NEO new economy, buried and in brief on page A8 of the 08/31/06 Plain Dealer, but not on Cleveland.com at all (another reason Cleveland.com is not of value to the world) - a more thorough treatment of the subject is found on the home page of the New York Times online... "Officials Reach California Deal to Cut Emissions". Such progressive political leadership is one of the reasons California is so desirable to enlightened and progressive global citizens, who are the leaders and engines of the global new economy. Read the brief highlights below and consider would you rather live in a progressive, problem-solving state like California, or a regressive, pollution-promoting state like Ohio.

California’s political leaders announced an agreement on Wednesday that imposes the most sweeping controls on carbon dioxide emissions in the nation, putting the state at the forefront of a broad campaign to curb the man-made causes of climate change despite resistance in Washington.

 Although the deal in California is strongly opposed by Republicans in the Legislature and many business leaders across the state, it assures that a bill on the restrictions will be passed before the legislative session ends Thursday and will be signed by Mr. Schwarzenegger, the leaders said Wednesday.

Since taking office in 2003, Mr. Schwarzenegger, who is seeking reelection in November, has supported efforts to fight climate change, most recently by signing an agreement with Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain to do cooperative research on new clean-energy technologies.

The governor said Wednesday that the deal struck with Democrats would make “California a world leader in the effort to reduce carbon emissions.”

“The success of our system will be an example for other states and nations to follow as the fight against climate change continues,” Mr. Schwarzenegger added.

The Assembly speaker, Fabian Núñez, who sponsored the bill along with Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, said at a news conference here, “We feel that California has always been a leader in protecting the environment.”

“We now have moved it to the next level,’’ said Mr. Núñez, a Los Angeles Democrat. “We’d all like to see California one day be carbon free.”

The state’s action, he said, could set off a “bottom-up” movement for curbs of heat-trapping gases in states around the country.

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I was amazed to read in the PD this morning an editorial writen by the Eurpoean Union Ambassador to the United State, intended to encourage more Americans to take action about global warming. This offers astounding insight about America that is highly disturbing. At the core, Ambassador John Bruton points out that...

The United States is the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, accounting for more than a fifth of the total. Yet, a recent Pew Research Center survey showed that less than a fifth of Americans are really worried about global warming, while almost 50 percent worry little or not at all. A recent Discovery Channel documentary cited a poll showing almost a third of Americans admitting they "don't know" if temperatures are increasing or whom to believe on the issue, with a further 13 percent believing global warming is just media hype.

These statistics show a disturbing similarity to the USA Today poll results that show only 15% of Americans believe in evolution, probably being most of the less than 20% who believe in global warming. If America is to become part of the world's solutions to the extermination of the human race, rather than the world's biggest problem, the US media must do its part and start educating the public about the harm we have already caused Earth and all our citizens, and the greater calamity to come. The media must absolutely attack all those who lead the corruption and hype driving our nation to the greatest depths of social irresponsibility on record, including exposing political and industrial forces causing environmental harm. And Ohio must look to progressive states like California and progressive areas of the globe like Europe for the roadmap to our new economy and survival of our species. As Ambassador Bruton writes, in our local paper, on our own turf:

There's no doubt about it: The world's weather really is changing. If the recent spate of 100-degree days wasn't enough, the National Academy of Sciences says the Earth is hotter now than it has been for at least 400 years - maybe for as many as 2,000. According to NASA, 2005 was the Earth's warmest year in a century, with the three preceding years not far behind. Climatologists say the warmer weather results in everything from the formation of more hurricanes in the United States to the melting of Greenland's ice cap. These changes have global consequences, potentially devastating ones. Were global temperatures to rise by five degrees in the next century, the level of the sea would be 80 feet higher than today, putting Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Miami and Washington, D.C., under water within the lifetimes of our grandchildren. In Ohio, wildlife would suffer tremendously as high water temperatures in lakes and streams degrade water quality and increase evaporation.

Our release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere has contributed greatly to the alarming rise in temperature. The EU recognized this as early as 1990, when we committed ourselves to stabilizing our emissions of carbon dioxide at the 1990 level by the year 2000. We succeeded, and through our commitments under the Kyoto Protocol we have set even more ambitious goals for ourselves as we continually strive to reduce emissions. The EU, which today accounts for 14 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, will have reduced that figure to around 8 percent by 2050. Since 2000, we have launched more than 30 initiatives to address climate change, including research and development on energy efficiency and alternative renewable energy sources such as wind, sun, water and even waste. Our efforts range from getting big factories to reduce their emissions to what we as individuals can do to make a difference in our daily lives. We have demonstrated that proactive climate policies produce results and that they do not necessarily endanger economic growth.

But global warming is an issue affecting the entire world and, as such, requires global action. Unfortunately, many have still not grasped the magnitude of the challenge, and the response from policy-makers globally has been lacking as a result.

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Considering the huge power of Christians in politics in America and Ohio, I think it is very important to point out a quote from the recent Foreign Affairs article"God's Country" I referenced extensively on REALNEO... "A group of leading conservative evangelicals recently signed a statement on climate change that stated that the problem is real, that human activity is an important contributing cause, that the costs of inaction will be high and disproportionately affect the poor, and that Christians have a moral duty to help deal with it." Spread the word, as this message doesn't seem to have gotten through to the right people in America, yet, and we wouldn't want all our politicians going to hell, would we.

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