That lack of leadership from the White House has led states to act unilaterally. Governors are signing regional agreements to cap greenhouse gas emissions. California, Montana and Utah signed one last week. Fourteen states have adopted California's tough tailpipe emissions standards. Yet, approval from the Environmental Protection Agency has been two years in coming -- if it comes at all. Court cases from federal district courts right up to the Supreme Court have beaten back challenges to states' proactive policies.The washington post writes:
"This [clean energy] sector could be the largest economic opportunity of the 21st century," says John Doerr, a prominent venture capitalist whose firm nurtured many of the iconic companies of the computer and Internet revolutions, from Netscape to Google. "The Internet and its effect on the economy and our lives pale in comparison."More and more institutions are moving to seize those opportunities -- and respond to the threats that climate change poses. Consider the developments in just the past two weeks.
Six Midwestern states (and one Canadian province) last week signed a regional accord imposing mandatory reductions on carbon dioxide and the other emissions linked to global warming through a market-based "cap-and-trade" system. That approach establishes binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions, but seeks the most efficient reductions by allowing industry to trade credits for the right to pollute.
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