Cooling Off

摘要

California tried to save the world again this week. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the state's governor, rounded up politicians and officials from across the globe (expending quite a bit of carbon) and urged them to tackle climate change more aggressively. To set an example, he ordered state power companies to obtain one-third of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. California is indeed leading the way in cutting greenhouse-gas emissions-but not for the reason it might want.rnMr Schwarzenegger became an environmental hero two years ago, when he signed a bill committing the state to cut greenhouse-gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. California's lead was followed by 17 other states, Congress and Britain. Many one-upped California by adopting even more ambitious targets. A slight stain on this otherwise heartwarming picture was that, until recently, California appeared to have little chance of hitting its own target. Then the state's housing market collapsed, petrol prices soared and the economy slid towards recession.