US failure to act - by Robb

Once again the US federal government has failed to act on climate change while many states are forging ahead with emissions trading schemes independent of increasingly marginalized Washington. The sponsors of the current failed bill talk of the need to show leadership in cutting greenhouse emissions. This is not possible. The EU has long been the leader in this effort and the US states that are moving forward are learning from the EU policies, both the ones that went awry and the successes.

The US bill that failed was proposing 70% cuts from current levels of emissions by 2050, a mere 2% drop per year.

In the UK the climate change bill currently going through Parliament, having passed through the house of Lords already,

" contains provisions that will set a legally binding target for reducing UK carbon dioxide emission by at least 26 per cent by 2020 and at least 60 per cent by 2050, compared to 1990 levels."

Bush said he would veto the US climate change bill because it would impose huge spending on the American treasury, Other republican opponents called it a massive transfer of wealth. They should know something about all that, they are experts. Check out the BBC Panorama investigation Daylight Robbery.

I applaud the states that are pursuing emissions reductions in any way. It points out that local action is what is needed to get Washington on board. Don't wait for the election! Cut your own emissions now! Make it clear to your local and statewide politicians that this is a priority.
Start your move to sustainable living or speed it up if you've begun. Talk to your neighbors, make visible obvious changes to your behaviour to set an example, organize, protest, whatever, just do it sooner rather than later.