Kudos to Arizona

Every state will suffer the harsh effects of global warming if we fail to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. So every state should take action to reduce those emissions.

We have already seen this with California, and Arizona’s governor Janet Napolitano last month signed an executive order that “establishes a statewide goal to reduce Arizona’s future GHG emissions to the 2000 emissions level by the year 2020, and to 50% below the 2000 level by 2040.”

Why not simply wait for action from President Bush? The ABC news headline summed up part of the answer to that question: “Arizona seeks to bypass Bush on CO2 emissions.” Equally important, the state faces many potentially dangerous climate impacts. The state is particularly vulnerable to climate change because it is already so hot and dry and drought-prone.

So if it wishes to avoid the trend for desertification that global warming is likely to bring, it needs to take action itself. Kudos for doing so.