When California passed its landmark global warming law last summer, it left the rest of the west coast playing catch up. But, perhaps, not for long.
Late last fall, the environmental law clinic at the University of Victoria drafted a model climate change law, based on California’s, but tailored to work in British Columbia’s political climate: California’s law gave broad power to an independent regulatory board, but the UVic drafters were concerned that this wouldn’t be seen as a legitimate way to enact regulations in BC…
Without such legitimacy, [the regulations] might fail. Therefore, the [model legislation] incorporates an approach inspired by the federal Species At Risk Act, where government is not bound to implement the recommendations of an independent board, but must at least give public reasons if it decides to not implement the recommendations. The proposed Act strengthens this model, requiring not just reasons but the implementation of an alternative plan.
(More in this pdf.)
And now, apparently, the BC government is in the midst of developing an energy plan of its own (or, really, updating the old one)—and some onlookers are cautiously optimistic about the prospects for some significant advances on the climate front. The Tyee has a good rundown.
Meanwhile, though, California keeps moving the goalposts: apparently, Gov. Schwarzenegger is contemplating a mandatory 10 percent cut in CO2 emissions from motor vehicles.
My question—when are Washington and Oregon going to start getting into the act? Dudes, your climate policy is, like, so 1990s…
