California Launches State Plan to Deal With Global Warming

As the climate change bill on emissions reduction makes its way slowly toward the Senate floor, California has decided it can't wait on the federal government any longer. On Monday, California became the first state in the nation to launch its own draft plan to deal with the impacts of climate change. Some of the suggestions that may have an immediate effect include submitting significant state projects to a review of their climate impacts and expanding the number of protected natural areas. Most concerning, though, are projections on water use. Citing competition among agriculture, cities and the environment, California called for a statewide 20 percent reduction in water usage by 2020.

Last November, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order for the state to develop a climate change preparation plan. It represents a shift in policy: California has long focused on reducing emissions over planning for climate change fallout. This latest report seems to acknowledge that reducing emissions alone is no longer enough and calls its new policy of climate adaptation both "complementary and equally necessary" with the goal of emissions reduction.

"Of all the difficult challenges that we've faced on this planet, environmental or otherwise, the greatest positive influence has happened when people acknowledge the problem, recognize their role in solving that problem and alter their behavior so that the change lasts," Secretary for Natural Resources Mike Chrisman said in a press release. Trouble is, though, a lot of people are still stuck on the acknowledgment phase.

A March Gallup poll showed 41 percent of Americans -- a 10 year high -- think that climate change has been "exaggerated." Compare that with a global poll of geoscientists conducted by the University of Illinois three months prior. Eighty-two percent of respondents say that human activity has played a significant role in changing global temperature, and, when you consider just the climatologists, that figure skyrockets to 97 percent. Though California may be the first state to set up a plan to deal with the impact of climate change, I doubt it will be the last.