Gov.-elect must oppose Bush air plan

The mud was slung; the votes were counted, and last week’s recall ended without incident in a stupefying landslide. Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger will now have to produce results to mend a fractured state. And while he can do no worse than Gray Davis when it comes to the budget, he will need to demonstrate unusual Republican compassion to continue on the path to cleaner air in California.

However little Schwarzenegger has actually said about the environment, his Web site (www.joinarnold.com) promises everything from a 50 percent statewide air pollution cut to investment in hydrogen highways by 2010. As unfortunate as it is inevitable, when Schwarzenegger finally “opens the books” he will likely discover that there is not enough money for everything he promised to ensure California’s air quality.

Schwarzenegger will have two choices at that point. He can either live up to his campaign promises, being the social liberal most voters believe he will be, or he can succumb to the dark side, seduced by President Bush and his environmentally destructive air policy. California has historically had the strictest clean air laws in the nation, and Schwarzenegger must not follow Bush’s lead if he intends to maintain the state’s air quality.

Bush’s newly amended Clear Skies initiative aims to reduce significantly power plant emissions of three major pollutants – sulfur dioxide, mercury and nitrogen oxide – over the next 15 years. On the surface this plan has all the political pretensions of a sound environmental initiative, but in actuality it is nothing more than an insulting PR move.

First of all, the schematics of the plan are flawed. Bush wants to mandate national limits for how much of each global warming compound is allowed each year while allowing businesses to get around this mandate by trading pollution credits – the amount each plant is allowed to pollute. This free-trade, American-pride, market-system way of thinking undermines the idea that all plants must cut emissions. The bottom line is that old plants could legally continue to pollute at standard or even accelerated levels under the Bush plan. More importantly, the plan would effectively reward the worst polluters by giving them a market edge over their more expensive, environmentally friendly competitors. This type of sidestepping may sound fine and dandy to your average corporate businessman, but it’s a slap in the face to the environment, the supposed beneficiary of this initiative.

The other major problem with the greenhouse emissions plan is that it does not address one of the biggest greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide. Republicans such as Congressman Joe Barton, R-Texas, claim that attempts to require lower carbon dioxide levels would undermine the United States’ economic stability, making for an unreasonable ambition. This unwillingness to sacrifice is the real face of compassionate conservatism in America.

Schwarzenegger must break away from his party on this issue. He was elected based on the assumption that his tenure will be both fiscally responsible and socially compassionate – he was elected to challenge the status quo.

In order to enact this dual-edged agenda, Schwarzenegger must openly condemn Bush’s Clear Skies initiative. Because it stacks the system in favor of polluters and does little to change individual standards, this initiative is neither economically fair nor socially proactive.

Schwarzenegger’s entire campaign was based on taking California back for the people – not for soulless corporations. But while he is likely being naive about what he will realistically achieve without new taxes and deep cuts, there is still hope that Schwarzenegger will keep his word on something as important as the air we breathe.

Politicians like President Bush would have the world divided into party lines, especially now that a Republican somehow got into Sacramento. Such politicians manipulate the issues to appear to be doing much more for the environment than they actually are. Hopefully, after Schwarzenegger’s term, we will be able to look back and see him for what he promised to be: a compassionate Republican who will spare us from dealing with another Hollywood action hero until his next bad movie.

Moon is a second-year psychology student. E-mail him at jmoon@media.ucla.edu.