California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger arrived in BC today amidst a ceremonial welcome by the provinces First Nations community. Arnold was given three ceremonial gifts before getting down to business with BC Premier Gordon Campbell and signing a five point agreement on fighting global warming.

The two leaders have committed to working together on the issue regardless of the participation of the US and Canadian federal governments.

The memorandum of understanding signed by the pair commit B.C. and California to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, collaborate on clean energies and technologies and build a series of hydrogen- refill stations along the highway linking Vancouver to Baja, California.

California and B.C. will also share data about the health of the Pacific Ocean

The memorandum is also seen as sign that Campbell is prepared to join California's current efforts in setting stiff reduction targets, penalties for companies who don't meet those targets, as well as a carbon trading market enabling "green" companies to sell carbon credits to polluters. However, the weak point in BC's position is still the fact that they have not put their own commitment's in law, and to date the government has only released scant details about how they intend to attain the steep reductions they have promised.

Last year, California legislated a mandatory 25% reduction of greenhouse gases by the year 2020, while in February, Campbell committed BC to a 33% reduction by the same deadline.

But all in, today's announcement is a good beginning.

Yesterday, the British Columbia government announced that it is joining 5 western states in an international carbon trading market designed to tackle global warming and aggressively reduce greenhouse gases.

BC joins California, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and Arizona in a growing partnership that now includes close to 60 million people. In the next few days, several Australian states are also expected to join, and Governor Schwarzenegger hopes to recruit at least four or five more Canadian provinces in the coming months.

Critics of the plan note that BC has promised to join such efforts in the past, but has failed to follow through because there were no hard caps on greenhouse gas emissions. To date, California has legislated hard caps under law. BC has not.

Mark Jaccard, Simon Fraser University's internationally respected global-warming expert, noted that B.C. politicians declared their support for a similar carbon trading system about 15 years ago. It quickly foundered because the New Democratic Party government never took the tough step of actually capping greenhouse gas emissions, meaning there was never a real incentive to buy carbon credits.

"We've already had governments make these announcements, but then they never come through with the greenhouse gas caps," said Jaccard. "In the absence of the government setting caps that are serious, an announcement of a trading system is meaningless.

BC's announcement follows up February's crown speech which stated that the province would reduce greenhouse gas emissions 33% by the year 2020.

The International Auto Show has been making the rounds of North America, with my home town of Vancouver being the latest stop on the tour.

Front and centre in this year's show is an increasingly aggressive campaign of green posturing by the major car manufacturers as they line up their latest high tech, fuel efficient models for the market and press. Highest profile among them is the Chevrolet Volt, GM's new "plug-in hybrid" concept car.

Doesn't it look pretty!

And as various bloggers and journalists are chaperoned through the Detroit autoshow (so as to better tow the GM line), give them credit for making a pass at something resembling balanced reporting. They do raise concerns with the Volt - about the potential hazards in disposing of electric batteries, of relying on coal powered electricity to charge battery powered vehicles, and of the potential recycling issues with the Volt's interior materials - all while being dazzled by the glitz of surface design.

That was part of the plan, we learned -- "green vehicles" aren't always particularly sexy, so Chevy wanted to bring some of the emotional attachment of the Corvette and Camaro to a greener vehicle.

"Green companies" aren't always sexy either, and what the rest of us have learned is how easy it is to get a environmental writer to lose sight of the ball.

Though valid, the criticisms above utterly miss the point. Namely, that while GM is flogging their green credentials, they are firmly entrenched as one North America's fiercest opponents of global warming action, thanks to their persistent lawsuits against states trying to pass tougher vehicle emissions standards.

GM is the lead plaintiff among a coalition of auto manufacturers in the highly publicized lawsuit against California over their landmark automobile emissions law. They were also the lead witness in a similar suit launched by automakers in the state of Vermont this past Tuesday, while yet another GM backed lawsuit is underway in Rhode Island. All in, nine states are trying to move forward with meaningful action to reduce automobile emissions under tremendous opposition from GM and the auto industry as a whole.

While green writers are being hypnotized by a public relations slight of hand, GM continues a full out legal campaign against some of the most progressive actions on climate change we have.

The bright spot is that thanks to last week's precedent at the US Supreme Court that recognized co2 as a pollutant, GM's efforts stand and excellent chance of failing. But regardless, automakers can make no claim to green credentials so long as they continue to use the courts to derail laws and policies that will lead to a healthier planet - no matter how many green poster cars they roll out for the cameras.

GM can have their Volt, so long as they quit interfering with real climate change solutions.

Acting where the US auto industry has failed to, the Union for Concerned Scientists have unveiled a minivan design that confirms automakers can build vehicles that would meet or exceed global warming pollution standards adopted by California and 10 other states using existing technology - without placing huge costs on the consumer.

Dubbed the UCS Vanguard, their mini van would cut global warming pollution by more than 40 percent, with a cost increase of just $300. However, that extra cost would result in more than $1,300 in lifetime consumer savings, with a payback time of less than two years.

Specific design features include:

• variable valve timing, currently used in most Toyota and Honda models as well as many Ford vehicles, which better controls the flow of air and fuel into the engine, leading to more efficient combustion and improved performance.


• a six-cylinder engine that can deactivate two cylinders when it requires less power, a feature currently found in 20 vehicle models.


• a "automatic manual" transmission that electronically adjusts its six gears to increase performance and efficiency.


• stronger hoses and tighter connections in the air conditioning system reduce the amount of concentrated global warming pollutants, called hydrofluorocarbons, which leak into the air. The minivan also uses a less-polluting refrigerant.


• capability to run on either pure gasoline or a mixture of gasoline and as much as 85-percent ethanol. Using 85-percent corn-based ethanol can reduce global warming pollution from 10 percent to 30 percent. Using "cellulosic" ethanol could cut global warming pollution by as much as 90 percent. There are currently 32 types of flex-fuel vehicles on the road.

Coming to an autoshow near you?

Gordon Campbell's climate change plan is gaining praise throughout North America, with renowned environmentalist David Suzuki, as well as California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger lending strong words of support for the Premier's announcements.

“I am pleased that British Columbia has joined the fight against climate change," said Schwarzenegger, "Global warming impacts everyone, and states and nations must work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. I look forward to meeting with Premier Campbell and working with British Columbia on this critical issue."

The two leaders are set to meet this spring in what is to be the start of a new West Coast green plan to be forged with California, Alaska, Washington and Oregon. According to Campbell's speech, that group would work towards common environmental regulations to control emissions from oceanic resources, container ships and enable the construction of a 'hydrogen highway' from Vancouver to San Diego.

Suzuki's stance was somewhat more staid than Schwarzenegger's. The lifelong scientist and conservationist noted that "the devil would be in the details". A valid point, but don't forget that the Provincial policy on global warming was thrust into a full scale re-write just a couple short months ago.

It would be both irresponsible and impossible to establish all the fine points in that short time. For now, we would do well to accept these initial announcements for what they are - a bold and visionary first step that provides a clear new direction for the Province of BC and provides a road map for bringing greenhouse gas emissions under control.