The Guardian reports that California Senate passed legislation requiring the state's major industries, such as utility plants, oil and gas refineries and cement kilns, to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by an estimated 25% by 2020. A market programme allowing businesses to buy, sell and trade emission credits with other companies is among the key proposals designed to drive the reductions. The legislation is expected to be passed by California's Democrat-controlled Assembly.

Martin Rowson

As in Australia, the absence of federal action in the US has meant that much of the effort to combat climate change has been taking place in individual states. They are beginning to realize that the effects of climate change will probably be abrupt and violent.

Anyone who watched the recent ABC's Four Corners program on climate change last Monday would have seen that John Howard is out of touch with reality on climate change. He said that while he broadly believed climate change was occurring he was sceptical about the effects and still had a "wait and see" attitude. Isn't he seeing images of the retreat of glaciers?

Howard wasn't even willing to concede that Australia's embrace of clean coal technology as the solution-- technology that produces electricity with low to zero emissions--- would be more expensive than dirty technology of today. He sounds as if he is spinning for the coal industry.