California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday stressed the urgent need for the U.S. government to join the fight against climate change.
Delivering a speech live via satellite to the United Nations World Environment Day business symposium in Auckland, Schwarzenegger said California has taken the lead in fighting climate change and the U.S. federal government should follow suit.
The symposium, aimed at exploring practical solutions for achieving carbon neutrality, is part of the United Nations World Environment Day, which is commemorated each year on June 5.
"The United States Senate right now is discussing legislation called the Warner-Lieberman Bill to address climate change on a national scale," the governor said.
"I am encouraged to see that it borrows actually ideas from California, including a version of our Low Carbon Fuel Standard. And I think it is great that Washington is finally showing some leadership in that area, because up until now they have been asleep at the wheel."
In his speech, the governor spoke about the creation of California's groundbreaking Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS).
The LCFS was proposed by Schwarzenegger in 2007 and has since been lauded as a model by several jurisdictions as well as included in recent national legislation.
In September 2006, the governor signed the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, California's landmark bill that established a first-in-the-world comprehensive program of regulatory and market mechanisms to achieve real, quantifiable, cost-effective reductions of greenhouse gases.
The law will reduce carbon emissions in California to 1990 levels by the year 2020. Schwarzenegger has also called for the state to reduce carbon emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2050.
"We started forming partnerships with other states, with provinces and with other nations and we gave the world a push," said the governor. "We gave the world a push and we gave also the nation, we gave Washington, a push."
Source:Xinhua
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