Appeared in the Good Times Newsweekly

--By Assemblymember John Laird

During my first term in the Legislature, I chaired the Select Committee on California Water Needs and Climate Change. At an informational hearing, a scientist began the hearing by saying it is not a question of if climate change is happening, but how far it has advanced and what the impacts will be. We are no longer talking just about the possibility of the oceans and temperatures rising, but how far and how much. We are also talking about monster hurricanes, killer droughts, species extinctions, disease outbreaks and economic disruption.

The climate discussion that used to be about action to effect changes at the North and South Poles has moved to global impacts. Last week Washington, D.C. experienced a flood-inducing, severe tropical storm as the Supreme Court agreed to take a case (brought by California and eleven other states) that could determine if the Environmental Protection Agency starts regulating greenhouse gases to combat global warming.

Al Gore says it best: we have a “moral imperative” to stop global warming. With the scientific debate about the reality of global warming finally coming to an end, it is time to roll up our sleeves on a global basis and reverse the trend toward cataclysmic climate change.

The U.S. is responsible for 22% of greenhouse gas emissions, despite being just 4% of the world’s population. We are acting locally in a way that is very negative globally. In a region with world renowned environmental and scientific resources, we can and must have an impact on reversing the global warming trend. As individuals, we can take action at home, at work and in the political arena. Two great Website on this are www.stopglobalwarming.org and www.ecoact.org.

I’m trying to do my part. I’m proud to co-author Speaker Nunez and Fran Pavley’s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32). I’m optimistic about passage of my bill to set green residential building standards (AB 2928), as well as my bills to increase water conservation through increased toilet efficiency (AB 2496), better urban landscape water use (AB 1881) and eradication of the invasive and water-consuming tamarisk plant on the Colorado River (AB 984).

This summer, I’ll be visiting the fast-receding ice fields of Canada. I know I’ll be concerned about threats to them, but also inspired to put solutions into action.

If you’d like to join me in this, please come to a free screening I’m hosting for Al Gore’s movie, “An Inconvenient Truth,” and a panel discussion to follow, at the Nickelodeon, Saturday, July 8 at 11am. Space is limited. RSVPs are required and taken on a first-come, first-served basis. To RSVP, please call 831-425-1503 or email tamar.kaufman@asm.ca.gov. Hopefully it will inspire us all to act.