HOME > NEWS & PRESS > NEWS ITEM Governor's Second Global Climate Summit Brings World Leaders And Green Thinkers TogetherShare Neon Tommy (Annenberg) Environmental experts, political leaders, entrepreneurs, and celebrities ranging from actor Harrison Ford to legendary boxing brothers Vitali and Vladimir Klitschko, flocked to Los Angeles this week for Governor Schwarzenegger's second Global Climate Summit. At the summit more than 200 speakers sounded off on topics such as carbon emissions, deforestation, and economic development opportunities that could arise from the creation of "green collar" jobs. Schwarzenegger considers the summit a precursor to the United Nations' climate change conference scheduled for December in Copenhagen, Denmark. But the folks at this summit didn't just come to talk. Since the first Governor's summit held last year, China has launched its inaugural carbon registry, while Indonesia, Mexico, and Brazil created an action plan to protect their rainforests. "The challenges are big," Schwarzenegger said in his opening address Tuesday. "It's like pushing, in a way, a rock or a boulder up to the hill. And you know that alone you cannot push that, so you need people to come on board and to keep pushing and pushing. But you know that as you push that, when you get up there with this boulder on top of that hill, on the other side it rolls down and it will gain momentum. And that's exactly the way it will happen with the environmental movement, fighting global warming." With Southern California's generally dry, warm climate and agriculture-dependent economy, water conservation has become more important than ever. One of the panels at the summit focused on how to manage water shortages in the face of a changing climate. Panelists such as Nancy Sutley, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and Robert C. Wilkinson, director of the Water Policy Program for the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at UC Santa Barbara, explored ways organizations can encourage conservation efforts and picked apart public policies related to infrastructure, funding and water allocation. "Conservation is affordable and necessary and equally available to all of us. Let's get started on this party," said Environment Now Executive Director Terry O'Day, adding that, with California in its third year of drought, water levels have reached critical lows. That's why O'Day's Santa Monica-based non profit foundation has begun focusing its efforts on water conservation. The Aussies have first-hand knowledge when it comes to dealing with a severe water shortage. Two years ago, a lengthy drought left the 12 million inhabitants of Victoria's eastern seaboard with enough water to last just six to nine months. Law makers around the world now look to the Australian government for guidance in drawing up comprehensive plans to deal with similar disasters. The shortage "changed the way we think about management," said Grame Barty of the Australian Trade Commission. "We've garnered a lot of knowledge and we want to share that." One of the summit's highlights was the Green Solutions Showcase, where companies showed off their environmentally sensitive products. Aside from the usual fair, such as energy efficient lighting and plumbing, there were a variety of truly unique products. A company in Coronado displayed special turf that would allow golf courses to cut down on watering. Down the way, a sleek, chartreuse yellow, two-seater electric sports car from recent start up SABA, attracted a steady stream of admiring conference-goers. The SABA can travel up to 150 miles straight before its battery needs recharging. SABA co-founder Elise Saba said she hopes to find an investor to help mass-produce and market the vehicle, which she says would retail for about $40,000 and is in the running for the prestigious Progressive Automotive X Prize. "We want to show who we are and what we have," she said, adding that she hopes to have the car on the market by next year. David Monteith, whose Arizona-based company, Southwest Windpower, makes wind turbines that convert wind into enough energy to power an entire home, came to the summit in hopes of expanding his California market. However, stiff regulations make it nearly impossible for many Californians to get a wind turbine installed in their home. For instance, Ventura charges residents $10,000 for a conditional use permit allowing them to install a turbine. Fears over the look of the device and its possible impact on birds have fueled some of the regulations. Monteith hopes that with consumer demand, regulations will change. Rita Schmidt Sudman, executive director of the Water Education Foundation agrees. "People have to be motivated, they have to care," she said. "We're part of the problem. Now we need to be part of the solution." Whether change comes from the bottom or the top, voices of those at both ends of the spectrum were heard at the Governor's Climate Summit. At the closing ceremony on Friday, 30 global leaders signed a declaration committing to work together to pursue clean transportation and mobility, support national climate change legislation, include forests in climate policy development, acknowledge the need for adaptation efforts and recognize the role of subnational governments in the discussions on the next global climate agreement being negotiated in Copenhagen this December. The declaration signed at the summit does not set forth any firm climate change regulation, it's more of a promise to make a statement in the upcoming climate talks - or you might call it a declaration of an upcoming declaration. But regardless, with the terminator as global shepherd on climate change mobilization, we could be in worse hands. |
