The left Tack

Governor Schwarzzeneggar signed California's Greenhouse Gas Law on last Wednesday afternoon. First in a ceremony at Treasure Island with an appearance at a second ceremony later in the day at the campus of Pepperdine University in Malibu:

In a ceremony on San Francisco's Treasure Island with the city's skyline as a backdrop, Schwarzenegger declared the beginning of "a bold new era of environmental protection in California that will change the course of history" as he approved AB 32, which calls for the state to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases by 25 percent by 2020.

The new law, the first of its kind in the nation, could lead to a dizzying array of changes in industry and elsewhere that will be seen in cities, on farms and on freeways.

During the next decade, state regulators could require more public transportation, more densely built housing, a major new investment in projects that tap into the wind and sun to generate electricity, millions of new trees and even new ways for farmers to handle animal waste.

Aides to the governor said he also planned to sign legislation later this week that will prohibit the state's electric utilities from buying electricity from high-polluting out-of-state power plants, a key step toward cleaning up the state's power supply.

Politicallym, this move coupled with the recently signed increase in the minimum wage leaves challenger Phil Angelides campaign on life support. I worry that this bill might eventually put California in the same shape in the not too distant future.

A state that already struggles to find enough electricity to keep the lights burning will now be required to be far more discriminating in where it gets it's power. Can beggars really be choosers?:

The president's warnings were echoed this year as major business groups -- many of whom are allies of Schwarzenegger -- suggested that California would send businesses scurrying out of state if it acted alone to limit emissions of greenhouse gases.

But on Wednesday, Schwarzenegger and others insisted that the caps would spur new clean-technology businesses and that other states, and eventually the federal government, would follow California's lead.

I don't know. This is going to be either really, really good for the State or really, really bad. I don't see much of an in-between here.