Arizona Unveils Climate Strategy

[jpak]

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/sep2006/2006-09-11-01.asp

PHOENIX, Arizona, September 11, 2006 (ENS) - Arizona has joined a growing list of states no longer willing to wait for the federal government to act aggressively on climate change. An executive order signed Friday by Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano calls on the state to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to 2000 levels by 2020 and 50 percent below that level by 2040.

Napolitano's order also creates a new panel to develop a strategy for Arizona to achieve its climate goals and to implement recommendations of the state's climate action plan.

The plan is the product of a climate action advisory group, which Napolitano, a Democrat, established last year.

The advisory group, which included industry representatives, environmentalists, farmers and academics, issued a report last month with 49 recommendations for addressing and reducing the state's greenhouse gas emissions.

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[ReaderSushi]

1. Hate to rain on the parade...

...but one of the major reasons the American Southwest is in trouble is the unsustainable growth. Desserts are a fairly sensitive and finely balanced ecosystem. A goal for year 2040 seems to indicate that the real climate strategy is an inevitable and permanent mass evacuation.

[phantom power]

2. Even Napolitano doesn't get it yet. It will be a different world by 2040.

But I'll give her credit for at least acting like there's a problem, even if she doesn't appear to understand the magnitude and the speed of the changes taking place.