Originally published Thursday, March 1, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Editorial
Global warming catches fire
A perfectly reasonable skeptic can speculate about the role of global warming in the purchase of a giant Texas utility by private investors...
A perfectly reasonable skeptic can speculate about the role of global warming in the purchase of a giant Texas utility by private investors this week, but there is no doubt the underlying topic of climate change has gone mainstream.
One immediate effect is to embolden political leadership. Five Western governors agreed Monday to establish a carbon-trading system and pool their efforts to limit greenhouse-gas emissions. Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona and New Mexico combined local and regional efforts into a bigger vision. Efforts to pooh-pooh global warming will continue at self-serving think tanks, but last month's report by an international scientific panel in Paris settled the question for those without a stipend from an industry group: The Earth's temperature is rising, and the cause is human activity.
Maybe it is the wacky weather the planet has experienced in recent decades, the melting polar ice and retreating glaciers. The world's population recognizes the changes, and the change in conversation.
Piecemeal responses are not perfect, but Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano summed up the operative sentiment: "In the absence of meaningful federal action, it is up to the states to take action to address climate change and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in the country."
Federal aloofness can end, quickly. Plug global warming into the middle of a $45 billion leveraged buyout, and the subject takes on a whole new look. Climate change becomes a cost of doing business that means something to people who have the ear of the White House and Congress.
Did the bidders for TXU Corp., the largest power producer in Texas, pledge to cut eight of 11 planned coal-fired plants and promote conservation as a ruse to impress regulators who must approve the deal? Maybe, maybe not. The key is that climate change is now part of such discussions.
TXU might not be a model for future buyouts and energy transactions, but the conversations have changed forever. The effect is cumulative. Five states in the West adopted a plan, following 10 states in the East.
Tougher, coherent national climate-change legislation is inevitable.
Copyright © The Seattle Times Company
UPDATE - 02:37 PM
Charles Krauthammer / Syndicated columnist: Iran's leaderless revolution: searching for a Yeltsin
NEW - 02:26 PM
Leonard Pitts Jr. / Syndicated columnist: The triumph and tragedy of Michael Jackson
NEW - 02:48 PM
Leonard Pitts Jr. / Syndicated columnist: What does a homosexual demon look like?

Gen. David Petraeus: Iraq and Afghanistan Wars
Watch highlights of General David Petraeus discussing the Iraq and Afghanistan War at the Global Leadership Series sponsored by the World Affairs Council.
Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech
nwjobs


Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
What not to wear to work this summer
Post a comment
nwhomes

Find a new home or condo that fits your lifestyle.
Search New Developments
Builder Directory
- Seattle-area homebuilder losing projects to foreclosure
- Health-plan costs soar for individuals
- Trees vs. houses: Narrow, leafy street is last chance for two Madrona homes waiting to be moved
- World's largest solar plant may be built in Cle Elum
- Chase won't pay for Seattle's Lake Union fireworks next year
- Mariners Blog | Seattle Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik again declines to quell Yuniesky Betancourt trade rumors
- Lawmaker says CIA director ended secret program
- The end of the light-line line, for now: Tukwila's "Taj Mahal" station
- Driver killed, deputy and prisoner injured in head-on crash near Monroe
- Cocoa plant where worked died didn't have license
- Health-plan costs soar for individuals
574 - Texas Rangers at Seattle Mariners: 07/09 game thread
243 - Seattle Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik again declines to quell Yuniesky Betancourt trade rumors
183 - Chase won't pay for next year's Lake Union fireworks
157 - World's largest solar plant may be built in Cle Elum
129 - The end of the line, for now: Tukwila is the jewel in the crown of Link
78 - Franklin Gutierrez bails Mariners out in a 3-1 win
77 - Deals involving Mariners shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt, Pirates second baseman Freddy Sanchez not automatically related
75 - Chase will longer sponsor Lake Union fireworks
57 - Former Huskies get announcing duties
48
- Seattle-area homebuilder losing projects to foreclosure
- World's largest solar plant may be built in Cle Elum
- Health-plan costs soar for individuals
- Group hopes to build 75-megawatt solar park near Cle Elum
- Grab the kids and hop on Amtrak for a stress-free getaway to Portland
- Trees vs. houses: Narrow, leafy street is last chance for two Madrona homes waiting to be moved
- During financial crisis, the business of college sports is complicated by Title IX
- Cocoa plant where worked died didn't have license
- Local Smith & Hawken garden stores to close
- Lavender tour on Vashon Island leads round of festivals






