<
snip>
"Gov. Charlie Crist signed a groundbreaking set of environmental protection orders Friday, calling it a framework for a new, more future-friendly way of living and conducting business in Florida.
"State government is leading by example," Crist said. "It is the right thing to do."
It also is a popular thing to do. Symbolizing the new star power of environmentalism, celebrity Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California stood at Crist's side after uttering the line everyone expected:
'We have to say, `Hasta la vista, baby' to greenhouse gases."
Friday's action propelled the state -- and Crist -- into the forefront of a new, still evolving but already politically popular struggle to confront the threats of global warming.
Schwarzenegger insisted that this effort represented more than a lot of political hot air.
"We have our work cut out for us and there is no time to waste," Schwarzenegger told 600 people at the conclusion of the two-day Florida Summit on Climate Change sponsored by Crist at the InterContinental Miami hotel. "You are on your way."
http://www.miamiherald.com/416/story/169761.htmlFlorida Plan Will Focus on Emissions and Climate <
snip>
"Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida has drafted a series of executive orders to slow climate change and cut the state’s emission of heat-trapping gases by more than 25 percent, to 1990 levels, over the next 18 years. By 2050, the goal is to cut emissions to one-fifth of those levels.
One order would require state officials to find ways to cut emissions from tailpipes and smokestacks. Another would set new energy-efficiency standards for state buildings and cars and require that 20 percent of the state’s electric power eventually came from renewable sources “with a strong focus on solar and wind energy.” Current federal calculations show that Florida gets 2 percent of its electricity from such sources, down from 2.9 percent in 1990.
Whether Mr. Crist, a popular Republican, can single-handedly mandate strict new controls on electric utilities and other industries remains to be seen.
At least one major initiative on Mr. Crist’s agenda — copying California’s requirements for reducing vehicle emissions — could not take effect under current federal regulations because Florida is not eligible to adopt such strict rules. Also, the orders of one governor can be nullified by a successor and may provide problematic underpinnings for policies reaching four decades into the future.
Mr. Crist’s moves are intended to put him and his state in the company of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, Gov. Jon S. Corzine of New Jersey, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York and other state and local officials who have taken steps to slow climate change and moved into a regulatory arena the Bush administration has largely shunned."
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/12/us/12florida.html?ref=us