With grim economic news piling up, it's not surprising that Gov. Rod Blagojevich chose to skip town for the West Coast. But Blago's trip to Southern California isn't just an escape -- it might actually be constructive.
Frustrated with the Bush administration's disregard for the dangers of climate change, Blagojevich and four other governors -- Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), Charlie Crist (R-FL), Jim Doyle (D-WI) and Kathleen Sebelius (R-KS) -- are hosting the Governor's Global Climate Summit, a two-day conference in Beverly Hills where participants hope to find common ground with developing nations on global warming policy. Officials from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and the European Union are expected to attend.
There's sure to be a fair amount of grandstanding at the event, as is typical at these blue-ribbon type affairs. Schwarzenegger will tout his state's plan to slash emissions across every industry while other state leaders will discuss their climate change initiatives.
Nonetheless, early collaboration with representatives from developing nations could have a long-term impact by easing tensions between countries wary of mandated carbon reductions (such as China and India), European nations already operating under a cap-and-trade system, and an incoming American president more focused on environmental protection than his predecessors. Considering that diplomats will gather in Poland next month to begin negotiating a successor to the 2005 Kyoto Protocol, now is as a good a time as any to hack away at the significant obstacles that still inhibit global climate change legislation:
Rob Bradley, director of the international climate program at Washington-based World Resources Institute, said differences between emerging economies such as China and India and developed nations like the U.S. and those in Europe will have to be overcome during UN negotiations.
``I think the conference in California should certainly explore to what extent those things can be moved forward but we shouldn't expect any quick and massive breakthroughs,'' Bradley said.
On a practical level, the Los Angeles Times reports that Illinois, Wisconsin, and California will sign an agreement with two states in Indonesia and four in Brazil to work on tropical forest preservation. Schwarzenegger will also issue a declaration to share technology and cooperate on reducing global-warming emissions from high-polluting industries, a proposal that's been endorsed by 12 U.S. governors and regional representatives from Brazil, Canada, India, Indonesia, and Mexico.
Meanwhile, President-elect Barack Obama showed his dedication to the issue by sending the a surprise video message to the conference:
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