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Crist signs clean-air laws
Schwarzenegger adds muscle to governor's cause at Miami summitBY JIM WAYMER, FLORIDA TODAY
MIAMI - Gov. Charlie Crist enlisted Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday to help terminate Florida's pollution, then signed three executive orders designed to ease greenhouse gases to just 20 percent of what they were in 1990 by 2050.
"We have to say 'Hasta La Vista, baby' to greenhouse gases," the California governor told a crowd of about 1,000 at the Intercontinental Miami hotel toward the end of a two-day climate summit.
With the "governator" at his side, Crist also signed accords with Britain and Germany -- rather than waiting for Congress and the White House to do so -- that create new partnerships to broaden pollution reductions set forth in the Kyoto Protocol, beyond 2012.
The agreements also would create "exchange delegations" to share science, technology and public policy ideas, with a particular focus on renewable energy sources such as solar energy.
Crist also is asking the state Public Service Commission to force utilities to draw 20 percent of their electricity from clean sources such as solar and wind by 2020.
"I think actions speak louder than words. You're another great action hero," Schwarzenegger said of Crist.
But the two governors, one a former prosecutor, the other a former Hollywood Terminator, also expect industry to help do the heavy lifting on global warming.
"The whole world right now is looking at this, what's going on in Florida," Schwarzenegger said at the signing.
Schwarzenegger used the summit to tout his own state's plans for a CO2 cap-and-trade system that Crist plans to model Florida's on. Cap-and-trade programs allow a fixed amount of carbon emission, usually as a total for each industry sector.
Critics say the reductions never materialize because companies can pay another company that doesn't have a carbon emissions limit, leading to no net pollution reduction.
California's system would provide for some allowances for industry sectors that can't meet the cap. And the plan would allow companies to eventually offset their carbon pollution by trading with other industries in and out of state.
Summit attendees said the system could work in Florida if it's economy-wide and mandatory.
"We can inspire a hunt for the lowest cost ways to take carbon out of emissions," said Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense, a nonprofit group.
The onus for greenhouse gas reductions will apply to state government, too.
"When we purchase a vehicle, they will be fuel efficient," Crist said at the signing.
"When we rent cars, they will be energy efficient."
Florida's addition to the growing ranks of states taking the lead in fighting climate change could reverberate around the globe, environmentalists said.
"Florida is just such an example of a state with so much to lose from climate change, and they have been doing relatively little compared to other states," said Judi Greenwald, director of innovative solutions for the Pew Center on Global Change, who worked with California to devise the cap-and-trade plan. "It is an interesting turnaround."
Experts predicted that others would follow the lead.
"This is not rocket science," said Theodore Roosevelt IV, great-grandson of the 26th president. "Every first grader can understand that we need to do this together."
But Schwarzenegger warned Crist to expect some resistance.
"You will be attacked by businesses," he said. "You will be attacked by the other side. They will accuse you of ruining the economy, of ruining businesses in the state."
Smart money is already going green, speakers at the summit said, investing in the technologies to make CO2 targets happen.
An international panel concluded thatthey're 99 percent sure humans are contributing to a warming trend. But many politicians aren't waiting for absolute certainty.
And should Florida fail to make some of Crist's pollution reduction goals: "I'll be back," Swarzenegger said in one several of his movie references.
FLORIDA TODAY staff writer Aaron Deslatte contributed to this report. Contact Waymer at 242-3663 or jwaymer@floridatoday.com.